X-ray and energetic ION generations in the divergent gas-puff z pinch

Summary form only given. The divergent gas-puff z pinch has been devised for the realization of efficient point radiation source of x-ray. Because of the axial inhomogeneity introduced at the initiation of discharge, the plasma converges to a small region, and the efficient energy input is obtained compared to the conventional system. The experiment was conducted on the SHOTGUN-I and the SHOTGUN-III z-pinch devices. In each device the gas was puffed through a hollow divergent nozzle mounted on the center electrode. Discharge polarity can be changed in the latter device. Hard x-ray which has not been observed in the conventional gas-puff z pinch was observed in the experiment. The x-ray was generated at the top of the anode, whose energy was about 10 times the discharge voltage. This meant that electrons were accelerated at the pinch formation. Measurements of ions were conducted using a Thomson parabola analyzer and an ion pinhole camera. The ion energy exceeding 1 MeV was observed, and the source of emission was found to be the pinched plasma. As the high-energy ions were also observed in the negative discharge, the occurrence of these ions was due to some acceleration mechanism other than electromagnetic induction.