History of z-pinch research in the U.S.

Over the years, the scientific community has been fascinated with z pinches. Z-pinch references include papers on the quest for fusion, on applications for radiation effects testing, lithography, x-ray microscopy, and pumping x-ray lasers, and on the production of intense magnetic fields. Because much of the research has been pursued elsewhere-in the USSR, Russia, England, Germany, and Chile, among other countries-we must place the U.S. work in an international context. We assert here that the z pinch is a valuable asset for its applications, chiefly those related to the production of x rays, but it is a tool that has sometimes deceived us with its seeming simplicity.