Spectral output of Z-machine implosions

Sandia National Laboratories Z-machine has developed into a reproducible, high power (> 200 TW), high temperature (> 200 eV) driver for radiation physics experiments. Imploding cylindrical wire arrays on the Z-machine produce a radiation source with a bolometric temperature of about 200 eV. By surrounding the z-pinch implosion with a vacuum hohlraum a nearly Planckian source of about 140 eV temperature is created with peak radiation powers of about 200 terawatts and integrated energy of 2 megajoules or more. In this energy rich environment we can field a dozen experiments all being driven by an identical source. In addition to ´standard´ vacuum hohlraums we also use dynamic hohlraums consisting of two nested wire arrays converging onto an axially centered foam cylinder. Radiation flowing from the ends on the cylinder indicates a Planckian source temperature well over 200 eV. Only two experiments can be fielded on a dynamic hohlraum (one on each end) but the higher source temperature justifies the added complexity of the set-up. We routinely use arrays of filtered silicon photodiodes (SiD) and filtered photocathode X-ray diodes (XRD) to determine the temperature of the source.