Comparative properties of copper wire array implosions driven by the pre-refurbished and post-refurbished generator

Summary form only given. The refurbishment of Sandia´s Z generator, completed in late 2007, represents a significant enhancement in its capabilities. In addition to increased operational efficiency and reliability, up to twice the previous energy can be stored in its present capacitors, allowing for greater load current and coupled energy. Despite losses occurring near the load, enhancements of current of ~ 15% and load energy coupling of >; 30% have been achieved in K-shell experiments. The effects of driving higher current and energy into a Z-pinch are expected to be most evident for K-shell radiating loads whose atomic numbers and difficulty of ionization placed them barely within the capability of the pre-refurbished Z. Copper is the highest atomic number element for which K-shell yields exceeding 20 kJ have been achieved, and is therefore a good candidate for a comparative analysis. We present such an analysis using spectroscopic and other data from shots taken on both the previous and present versions of Z.