The effect of the initial gas density and gas shell profile in a small gas-puff Z-pinch

Summary form only given. The authors determined the thickness and mass of the initial gas shell from three different kinds of nozzles and measured the corresponding X-ray yield (2 keV<hv<6 keV) in a small gas-puff, Z-pinch device which consists of a fast valve, a supersonic nozzle of Mach 4, and a capacitor bank charged to 25-30 kV. They also studied the plasma dynamics with laser differential interferometry. The experimental results have revealed that the thinner gas shell creates higher implosion velocity, higher X-ray yield, and smaller minimum radius of the pinched plasma column. This phenomenon might be explained in the following way: as the thinner gas shell has a small mass, the velocity of plasma will be higher under the same discharge current, producing higher temperature and higher X-ray yield