K-shell emission trends from 60 to 130 cm/μs stainless steel implosions

Journal Article · Tue Oct 15 04:00:00 EDT 2013 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4823711· OSTI ID:22218561

Ampleford, D. J.; Jennings, C. A.; Jones, B.; Hansen, S. B.; Cuneo, M. E.; Coverdale, C. A.; Jones, M. C.; Flanagan, T. M.; Savage, M.; Stygar, W. A.; Lopez, M. R. ^[1]; Apruzese, J. P.; Thornhill, J. W.; Giuliani, J. L. ^[2]; Maron, Y. ^[3]

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1. Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87106 (United States)
2. Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC 20375 (United States)
3. Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100 (Israel)

Recent experiments at the 20 MA Z Accelerator have demonstrated, for the first time, implosion velocities up to 110–130 cm/μs in imploding stainless steel wire arrays. These velocities, the largest inferred in a magnetically driven implosion, lead to ion densities of 2 × 10{sup 20} cm{sup −3} with electron temperatures of ∼5 keV. These plasma conditions have resulted in significant increases in the K-shell radiated output of 5–10 keV photons, radiating powers of >30 TW and yields >80 kJ, making it the brightest laboratory x-ray source in this spectral region. These values represent a doubling of the peak power and a 30% increase in the yield relative to previous studies. The experiments also included wire arrays with slower implosions, which were observed to have lower temperatures and reduced K-shell output. These colder pinches, however, radiated 260 TW in the soft x-ray region, making them one of the brightest soft x-ray sources available.

• OSTI ID: 22218561
• Journal Information: Physics of Plasmas, Journal Name: Physics of Plasmas Journal Issue: 10 Vol. 20; ISSN PHPAEN; ISSN 1070-664X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
ELECTRON TEMPERATURE
EXPLODING WIRES
IMPLOSIONS
ION TEMPERATURE
K SHELL
KEV RANGE
PHOTONS
PINCH EFFECT
PLASMA DENSITY
SOFT X RADIATION
STAINLESS STEELS
X-RAY SOURCES