Time-Resolved CU X-Ray Spectra from Four Wire X Pinches

Summary form only given. X-pinch plasmas are formed when an X pinch (made by crossing two or more fine wires in the form of an "X"), is driven by a 450 kA current pulse in Cornell\´s XP pulser. We\´ve obtained time-resolved spectra from the plasma of 4 wire 25 mum diameter Cu and 4 wire 25 mum diameter Manganin (86% Cu, 14% Mn) X pinches using an X-ray streak camera together with a spherically bent mica crystal spectrometer. Time integrated spectra have also been obtained using a focusing spectrometer with spatial resolution (FSSR) with a spherically bent mica crystal. Both streak camera spectra and FSSR spectra of Cu K-shell and Cu L-shell line emission from Cu and Manganin have been recorded and analyzed. A simple Gabriel model has been developed to model the experimental spectra and to extract the electron temperature as a function of time. An electron temperature of ~200 eV has been inferred from Cu L-shell spectra and 2 keV has been inferred from Cu K-shell spectra from both the time-integrated and time-dependent experiments. The results of the experiments as well as the application of the model are discussed