High-Resolution Spectroscopic X-Ray Diagnostics for Studying the Properties of Z-Pinch Plasmas at Stagnation

Spectroscopic systems with toroidally bent crystals, giving resolving power of 7000 and a spatial imaging of 0.1 mm resolution, are used to obtain the kinetic energies of [H] and [He] ions as a function of time throughout stagnation in a Neon-puff, 350 kA, experiment. The measurements utilize optically thin lines (various satellites and intercombination). The data also yield the electron density from satellite ratios, the opacity effects from line-shape measurements and analysis, and the true ionic ground state and total ion densities. This allows for vigorous investigation of the energy conversion. The z-dependence of the ion velocities and plasma structure is also studied.