Temporal development of hard and soft x-ray emission from a gas-puff Z pinch

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Abstract
Previous time‐ and space‐resolved x‐ray measurements on a small gas‐puff Z pinch indicated the presence of bursts of energetic electron beam and related ‘‘hot spots’’—high‐temperature, high‐density plasma regions. Spectra taken from these hot spots are consistent with a plasma of electron density about 1022–1023 cm−3 and electron temperature of 500 eV. Here we present time correlation of the hard x‐ray emission from the anode with large fluctuations in İ and with short bursts of intense soft x rays. These soft x‐ray bursts originating from the hot spots are shown always to be preceded by hard x‐ray emissions. Using suitable apertures, the plasma is shown to be a source of hard x rays, Z of the anode the electron beam associated with hard x‐ray emission is found to be of low energy (10 keV) agreeing with previous measurements. In particular a plastic, PTFE (Teflon), is shown to be a suitable material for the anode, with superior lifetime performance compared with conventional metallic substances.

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