Spectral output of Z-machine implosions

Summary form only given. Sandia National Laboratories Z-machine has developed into a reproducible, high power (>200 TW), high temperature (>200 eV) driver for radiation physics experiments. Imploding cylindrical wire arrays on the Z-machine produce a radiation source with a bolometric temperature of about 200 eV. By surrounding the z-pinch implosion with a hohlraum a nearly Planckian source of about 140 eV temperature is created with peak radiation powers of about 200 terawatts and integrated energy of 2 megajoules or more. In this energy rich environment we can field a dozen experiments all being driven by an identical source. In addition to ´standard´ hohlraums we also use dynamic hohlraums consisting of two nested wire arrays converging onto an axially centered foam cylinder. Radiation flowing from the ends on the cylinder indicates a Planckian source temperature well over 200 eV. Only two experiments can be fielded on a dynamic hohlraum (one on each end) but the higher source temperature justifies the added complexity of the set-up. We routinely use arrays of filtered, silicon photodiodes (SiD) and filtered photocathode x-ray diodes (XRD) to determine the temperature of the source. Three different techniques for unfolding spectra from the XRD and SiD detector data are being used. They are: 1) Treat each detector independently and find the Planckian temperature for a given source size and solid angle that would give the measured detector signal. 2) Use all detector signals and detector spectral responses simultaneously and find a spectrum that best fits the observed data. 3) Use all detector signals and averaged detector spectral responses and find a histogram spectrum that best fits the observed data. When used as complementary set of analysis tools these techniques generate remarkably consistent results showing nearly Planckian behavior on our hohlraum experiments.