Initial results for tandem puff x-ray loads on ACE 4
- Maxwell Labs., San Diego, CA (United States)
Thompson et.al. reported on a new Z-pinch load termed a tandem puff. In this geometry, current from a Marx bank is initially carried by an annular plasma column. Magnetohydrodynamic forces push the current sheath axially. At the end of the conduction region, the current is transferred onto an annular gas puff without an intervening vacuum power flow volume. The puff then implodes much like a standard Z-pinch. The advantages of this geometry are (1) it uses a simple, compact and relatively inexpensive Marx bank, (2) a separate plasma opening switch (POS) is not needed between the source and the load, and (3) Z-pinch parameters like mass loading and radius need not be tuned to match the Marx bank`s current time history. The authors present here initial tests of this tandem puff configuration using the 4 MJ ACE 4 inductive energy storage (IES) machine. Neon and a few krypton puffs from an 11 centimeter diameter fast gas valve gave significant (>10 kJ) soft x-ray ({approximately}1 keV) yields. Load currents exceeded 3 megamps, a level 3 times higher than the earlier experiments. They observed implosion times of over 400 nanoseconds. The diagnostics included calorimeters, time-resolved sensors (PCDs, XRDs, and silicon PIN diodes), and time-integrated images (pinhole and KAP spectra). Only a limited number of shots were made, hence this configuration is far from optimized. However, the results suggest that the tandem puff geometry is very promising as a long implosion time x-ray source.
- OSTI ID:
- 182741
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-950612-; ISBN 0-7803-2669-5; TRN: IM9608%%106
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 22. international conference on plasma science, Madison, WI (United States), 5-8 Jun 1995; Other Information: PBD: 1995; Related Information: Is Part Of IEEE conference record -- abstracts: 1995 IEEE international conference on plasma science; PB: 312 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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