Enhancement of the radiation yield, in plasma flow switch experiments

The Shiva Star fast capacitor bank, an inductive store, and a plasma flow switch were used to deliver multimegaampere currents with submicrosecond rise times to cylindrical foil loads. A series of numerical simulations of the plasma flow switch/imploding load system were performed with the goal of discovering a way to boost the total power radiated by the imploding plasma as it stagnates on the axis of symmetry. The changes to the experimental design that were investigated include variations of the shape of the electrodes, size and mass of the load foil, structure of the axial view vanes, shape and mass of the switching plasma, material from which the load is constructed, the degree to which the load is bowed, and the energy of the capacitor bank. Radiation yields in the range 6-9 TW are predicted for future experiments on Shiva Star