What is the Zebra Pulsed Power Lab?

The Zebra Pulsed Power Lab (ZPPL) was established by the University of Nevada, Reno and dedicated in 2000. Supported primarily by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), its mission is to conduct research and to train students in the field of high-energy-density (HED) science, the study of the behavior of matter subject to conditions of extreme temperature and density. This rapidly developing field explores the fourth state of matter, called plasma, under conditions similar to those occurring in the interiors of stars, nuclear fusion reactors, and lightning bolts.

Recent news from the Department of Physics

An illustration of interwoven blue and red particles expanding outwards in a disk, with white particles curving upward in a bell curve shape and moving toward the center in a squiggly pattern.

Theoretical physicist finds evidence quantum geometry can increase critical temperatures of superconductors

Quantum geometry is an underexplored area of physics but could have far-reaching implications

Four people stand in front of a research poster, talking.

Nevada NASA Space Grant recipients share progress on projects

Students in three colleges received funding for their research projects

An artist's illustration divides the image with a red barrier in the lower left corner and a dark blue material in the upper right. Red dots are located in both regions, but blue dots are only located in the upper right region.

200-year-old prediction of Fourier confirmed in extreme plasmas for the first time

Discovery reshapes our understanding of heat transfer in extreme materials, with implications for inertial confinement fusion and high-energy-density science