Exploring parallel X-pinch coupling

Summary form only given, as follows. To investigate the influence of X-pinches, driven by 225 kA each, on each other as a function of their separation distance, several distances between the X-pinches were tested with various wire materials. Pinhole images, interferometry data, and soft x-ray images of interacting X-pinches were collected. Time integrated radiographs of two X-pinches show, when the X-pinches are less than 10 mm apart, the merging of the jet-like plasmas that form between the legs, implying a strong magnetic interaction between the jets sometime during the pulse. Possible explanations of these observations, including the influence of the plasma surrounding the X-pinches on bright spot formation, will be discussed. These results also have implications for x-ray backlighting and for time-dependent x-ray spectroscopy experiments.