X-pinch X-ray emission on a portable low-current, fast rise-time generator
Abstract
We report on experiments exploring X-ray emission from an X-pinch driven by a small Marx-waterline generator supplying 50 kA with a risetime of 50 ns and a peak voltage of ∼250 kV. Both standard crossed wire loads and hybrid loads utilizing conical metal electrodes with a single short wire in between them were studied, and in both cases reliable modes of operation were obtained for X-ray radiography. Soft (few keV) and Hard (>5 keV) X-ray emission characteristics were observed. With standard X-pinches, soft radiation emanated from a small hot spot about 3 μm in size, along with hard radiation from a ∼200 μm region close to this hot spot. With hybrid X-pinches, the hot spot was <7 μm in size. There was a clear correlation between the soft and hard X-ray emission—pinches that produced intense soft X-ray emission from a small hot spot also produced the most intense, localized hard X-ray emission.
- Publication:
-
Journal of Applied Physics
- Pub Date:
- August 2018
- DOI:
- 10.1063/1.5032112
- Bibcode:
- 2018JAP...124h3303S