Investigation of “hot” electron production fromwireand gas Z-pinchs on the sphinx pulsed power generator

Besides the desired K-shell X-rays produced by Z-pinches, there may be unwanted emissions of "hot", >50 keV electrons . We used two types of diagnostic to look for such hot electrons produced by the Sphinx generator . Sphinx uses LTD technology to produce >4 MA pulsed power, driving large diameter (>=14 cm), long implosion time (>500 ns) Z-pinch implosions. Our diagnostics comprised stacks of radiochromic film (RCF) and filtered Faraday cups (FC). The RCF provided time-integrated data on both the X-ray and potential electron outputs of the Z-pinches. With a range of filtrations, the FC let us establish the possible time correlations between the X-rays and the electrons. These sensors were complemented on some Sphinx shots with "sweeping" magnets to confirm the presence of the electrons. On aluminum wire array pinches, there was no evidence for hot electrons; the signals seen on our diagnostics were due solely to the free-bound K X-ray continuum. We will discuss the design and use of the electron diagnostics along with more recent data on the possible presence of hot electrons from the argon gas puff loads.