Time resolved x-ray plasma emission in low current x-pinches

Experiments investigating the long time scale x-ray emission from x-pinches have been performed on a compact laboratory-scale pulser. The device has a maximum current of 80 kA with a rise time of ∼40 ns, and wires made of both aluminum and tungsten were studied. Time resolved x-ray signal data has been recorded and analyzed, which included a set of Si diodes filtered using a Ross pair filter sets. Simultaneous laser probing techniques (Schlieren and interferometry) were used to correlate x-ray emission to plasma dynamics. A comparison of wire number and wire material was carried out whilst maintaining constant mass in the x-pinch. Various features including peak timing, number of peaks, FWHM, rise time, and time varying spectrum are reviewed. The energy spectrum of the emission from the x-pinch was found to vary as a function of time, suggesting that x-rays are produced by different mechanism at different times. Likely causes for the spectral change are presented and discussed.