Neon Z-pinch experiments on hawk to optimize K-shell radiation from 300 ns implosions

One of the objectives of the Plasma Radiation Source research program on the Decade Quad machine (6 MA, 300 ns implosion time) program is to optimize the K-shell yield for large-radius, long-implosion-time argon gas-puff Z-pinches. The NRL HAWK generator (0.6 MA, 300 ns implosion time) driving a neon gas puff is a convenient test bed to study yield dependence on density profile, implosion time, return current symmetry, etc.. Neon on Hawk is energetically equivalent to argon on Decade Quad [1]. The HAWK neon experiments employ the Titan 1234 double-shell gas-puff valve and nozzle [2] used in higher-Current argon experiments [3]. Here, we report on experiments to determine dependence of K-shell yield on gas-puff density profile by varying the inner and outer plenum pressures over a wide range.