title: Formation of single pinched plasma point in the cathode plasma jet of a multipicosecond laser-triggered vacuum discharge.
abstract: Characteristics of cathode plasma jet pinching and x-ray emission from a multipicosecond laser-triggered vacuum discharge are presented. Discharge was created in between a planar Al cathode and a conical point-tip Ti anode (separation: 2-15 mm, circuit inductance of approximately 0.53 microH, peak discharge current of approximately 3 kA, and rise time of approximately 400 ns). For anode-cathode separation of approximately 13.5 mm, only a single pinched plasma point was formed in the cathode plasma jet at a distance of approximately 9.5 mm from the cathode. Quantitative analysis of the x-ray signals recorded using a pin diode with different filters and viewing different regions of the discharge, shows soft ( approximately keV photon energy) x-ray emission from the plasma point with a flux of approximately (3-5)x10(10) photons/sr, and multi-keV x-ray emission from the Ti anode with Kalpha ( approximately 4.51 keV) photon flux of approximately 10(10) photons/sr.
authors.affiliation: Laser Plasma Division, Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology, Indore 452013, India.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Moorti
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Naik
authors.forename: P D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.forename: R K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Bhat