Radiative cooling of two-component wire-array Z-pinch plasma

Abstract

Wire-array two-component Z-pinch plasmas containing Al and other elements were studied experimentally and the observations interpreted with the help of theoretical modeling. Special attention was given to achieving reproducible implosions. Cascading implosions in star wire arrays mix components during the implosion phase and implosion dynamics were not affected by changes in concentration. A reduction in Al K-shell radiation and an increase in soft x-ray radiation emission were observed in Al-W plasma with 84% concentration of Al ions compared to only-Al plasma. Plasma with 84% of Al ions has radiative properties like those of W Z-pinches. The analysis of Al K-shell x-ray spectra with a collisional-radiative atomic kinetics model shows a drop of the electron temperature from 400 eV in pure Al plasma to below 300 eV in the Al-W mix. Al-Au Z-pinches present radiation features similar to Al-W plasma. This is indicative of a similar plasma cooling effect due to the presence of a high-Z element.