Wire Fixturing in High Wire-Number Z-Pinch Implosions Important for Reproducibility and High Power
Abstract
Dynamic Hohlraums (DH) [1] driven by W wire-array Z pinches are being developed and used as intense black-body x-ray sources for high temperature radiation flow and ICF experiments on Z. They are currently the most energetic and intense pulsed-power driven radiation sources in the laboratory for these applications. Three methods for positioning and holding the wires in place, within these loads, have been developed: the ``flop-over'' [2], the ``hang-down'' [2], and the ``weightless''. The shot-to-shot variation in magnitude and shape of the radial and top-bottom axial powers and spectra are used to establish the efficacy of each wire-fixturing method. Comparisons among the 3 fixturing techniques illustrate the importance of good wire-cathode contact. In general, poor wire-electrode contact leads to a less coherent implosion, and to excessive W-wire plasma flowing across the REHs (radiation exit holes) located at either end of the DH, increasing the opacity of the REH, with subsequent lowering of axial power. [1] T. W. L. Sanford. et al, Phys. Plasmas 9, 3573 (2002). [2] T. W. L. Sanford. et al, Digest Tech. Papers, IEEE Inter. Conf. On Pulsed Power (Dallas, TX, 2003), pp 733-6. ^*Sandia is a multiprogram laboratory operated by the Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin Company, for the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC04-94AL85000.
- Publication:
-
APS Division of Plasma Physics Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- October 2005
- Bibcode:
- 2005APS..DPPCO3009S