X-ray emission from a high-atomic-number z-pinch plasma created from compact wire arrays
- Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- Naval Research Lab., Washington, DC (United States)
- California Univ., Davis, CA (United States); and others
Thermal and nonthermal x-ray emission from the implosion of compact tungsten wire arrays in 5-MA Saturn discharges is reported. The timing of multiple implosions and the thermal x-ray spectra (1 to 10 keV) agree with 2D radiation-hydrocode simulations. Nonthermal x-ray emission (10 to 100 keV) correlates with pinch spots distributed along the z-axis. The similarities of the measured nonthermal spectrum, yield, and pinch-spot emission with those of 0.8-MA, single- exploded-wire discharges on Gamble-II suggest a common nonthermal- production mechanism. Nonthermal x-ray yields are lower than expected from current scaling of Gamble II results, suggesting that implosion geometries are not as efficient as single-wire geometries for nonthermal x-ray production. The instabilities, azimuthal asymmetries, and inferred multiple implosions that accompany the implosion geometry lead to larger, more irregular pinch spots, a likely reason for reduced nonthermal efficiency. A model for nonthermal-electron acceleration across magnetic fields in highly- collisional, high-atomic-number plasmas combined with 1D hydrocode simulations of Saturn compact loads predicts weak nonthermal x-ray emission.
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-94AL85000
- OSTI ID:
- 242772
- Report Number(s):
- SAND-95-3012C; CONF-960610-4; ON: DE96011832; TRN: 96:014640
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: BEAMS `96: 11. international conference on high-power particle beams, Prague (Czech Republic), 10-14 Jun 1996; Other Information: PBD: [1996]
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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