Systematics of a 12 CM double shellargon Z-pinch for a range of current drives

Author

Coleman, P.L. ; Bixler, A. ; Jarema, A. ; Knight, J. ; Lee, S. ; Krishnan, M. ; Thompson, J. ; Wilson, K.

Author_Institution

Alameda Appl. Sci. Corp., San Leandro, CA

fYear

2006

fDate

4-8 June 2006

Firstpage

399

Lastpage

399

Abstract

Summary form only given. We review the behavior of a 12 cm diameter, double shell argon gas puff as used on a variety of pulsed power drivers. Peak currents ranged from 3.5 to 6 MA, and implosion times from <200 to >260 ns. In some cases, the drive current was effectively constant after a rapid 100 ns rise; in other cases, the drive was the more conventional linear ramp. Peak K yield was ~12 kJ for the "constant" current at 3.5 MA, >20 kJ for a linear ramp to 3.8 MA, and ~45 kJ for a linear ramp to 5.6 MA. Optimum performance favored the shorter implosion times and for minimal zippering, reduced or no UV preionization. K-shell pulse widths were 3 to 4 times the analytical estimate based on the sound transit time through the plasma column. The fraction of the K yield due to free-bound (continuum) transitions appeared to increase with peak current. These and other systematic trends will be discussed in detail

Keywords

Z pinch; argon; explosions; plasma transport processes; preionisation; 12 cm; 3.5 to 6 MA; Ar; K-shell pulse widths; UV preionization; argon gas puff; continuum transitions; current drives; double shell argon Z-pinch; free-bound transitions; implosion; plasma column; pulsed power drivers; sound transit time; zippering; Argon; Plasmas; Space vector pulse width modulation; Systematics;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Plasma Science, 2006. ICOPS 2006. IEEE Conference Record - Abstracts. The 33rd IEEE International Conference on

Conference_Location

Traverse City, MI

Print_ISBN

1-4244-0125-9

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/PLASMA.2006.1707272

Filename

1707272