Efficient radiation production in long implosions of structured gas-puff Z pinch loads from large initial radius.
We have proposed and demonstrated successfully a new approach for generating high-yield K-shell radiation with large-diameter gas-puff Z pinches. The novel load design consists of an outer region plasma that carries the current and couples energy from the driver, an inner region plasma that stabilizes the implosion, and a high-density center jet plasma that radiates. It increased the Ar K-shell yield at 3.46 MA in 200 ns implosions from 12 cm initial diameter by a factor of 2, to 21 kJ, matching the yields obtained earlier on the same accelerator with 100 ns implosions. A new "pusher-stabilizer-radiator" physical model is advanced to explain this result.
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L-3 Titan Pulse Sciences Division, San Leandro, California, 94577, USA.
Banister
J
J
Failor
B H
BH
Levine
J S
JS
Qi
N
N
Velikovich
A L
AL
Davis
J
J
Lojewski
D
D
Sincerny
P
P