Development of the MARZ platform (Magnetically Ablated Reconnection on Z) to study astrophysically relevant radiative magnetic reconnection in the laboratory

MARZ (Magnetically Ablated Reconnection on Z) is a new fundamental science platform being developed at the Z Pulsed Power Facility (Sandia National Laboratories) to study astrophysically relevant radiative magnetic reconnection in the laboratory. MARZ is a 20 MA scale-up of a side-by-side exploding wire array reconnection platform developed at 1 MA on the MAGPIE facility [Hare et al. Phys. Plasmas 25, 055703 (2018)]. This scale-up substantially increases the magnetic field strength, plasma density, and physical size of the reconnection layer. The result is a reconnecting plasma that is predicted to experience a radiative collapse that homogenizes the layer and stalls the reconnection process. Here we describe the experimental development of the MARZ platform, both in terms of the design of the pulsed power configuration for the side-by-side exploding wire arrays and the suite of diagnostics that will be used to observe the ablated plasma inflows and the reconnection layer. This diagnostic suite includes gated x-ray imagers, linear x-ray imaging diode arrays, Al K-shell spectrometers, inductive probe arrays, streaked visible spectrometers, and load current velocimetry among other instruments. The first MARZ experiment is scheduled for the end of 2021.