Production of highly-ionized titanium using a puff-on-wire Z-pinch on Double-Eagle

Summary form only given, as follows. In recent experiments we have created a Z-pinch plasma from a puff-on-wire configuration consisting of a single titanium wire suspended on the axis of an annular argon gas jet. The Double-Eagle pulse generator was used to drive a 4-MA current through the plasma, giving a 100-ns implosion of the argon onto the titanium wire. Thermalization of the energetic argon plasma with the titanium wire produced a highly-ionized plasma on axis of the pinch. Time integrated X-ray spectra show that both titanium and argon are primarily He-like, with significant amounts of H-like ions also observed. We have measured the K-shell X-ray yields using calorimeters and photoconductive detectors with Ross-pair filters; typical yields are 1 kJ titanium and 15 kJ argon. We will also present plasma density and temperature measurements inferred from the spectra as as one-dimensional numerical models of plasma implosion and heating.