Observations of dense sheet z-pinches

It was tried to produce the dense sheet z-pinch plasma in order to avoid strong instabilities in a fiber z-pinch. There are two types of sheet z-pinches depending on the formation mechanism: (a) compressional and (b) stretched types. In this experiment the latter type was examined. The sheet z-pinch plasma was observed in the medium pressure region (7 – 20 torr in Hydrogen gas). The pinch similar to plasma focus was also observed at the upside of the plasma sheet. Although it was weaker than that in the plasma focus, it was seems to be sustained for longer period (about 500 ns)