K-shell radiation from nickel wire arrays at 18 MA

A series of nickel z pinch experiments was conducted at 18 MA current on the Z accelerator producing up to 13 kJ of K-shell radiation at 7.8 keV and above. Double-shell wire arrays were used, with the diameter of the outer array of the nested structure varied from 55 to 70 mm. By using Cr and Mn dopants in conjunction with a streak spectrograph, the interaction of the outer and inner array could be investigated. The radiation from the outer array E array started slightly after the inner array and lasted longer, producing comparable energy per atom at lower power. This indicates that the arrays were well mixed for most of the radiation pulse, in contrast to the observed behavior of a double-shell gas puff.