Plasma-Filled Rod-Pinch Diode Research On Gamble II

Summary form only given. The plasma-filled rod-pinch diode (PFRP) is a new technique for making an intense, small, pulsed X-ray source for radiographic applications. The PFRP utilizes an injected plasma in a rod-pinch-diode configuration to concentrate a 1-2 MeV, 0.1-0.8 MA electron beam at the tip of a 1-mm diameter, tapered tungsten rod, producing an extremely intense X-ray pulse with parameters thought to be impossible with conventional vacuum-diode techniques. The small X-ray source diameter [0.4-mm full-width-at-half-maximum (FWHM) line-spread function] and high X-ray dose (24 R at 1 m) with 1-2 MeV electron energies result in a radiographic figure-of-merit (FOM = dose/FWHM²) that exceeds by a factor-of-forty the FOM of conventional X-ray sources used for pulsed hydrodynamic radiography in this electron-energy range. The NRL Gamble II generator has recently been refitted with a 3-Omega output water line to test the PFRP under conditions similar to those required for AWE´s Hydrodynamics Research Facility program. Results of this research effort will be reported.