Spectroscopic measurements of recent aluminum wire array Z-pinch implosions on the Z-accelerator

Summary form only given. Tests of nested aluminum (A15056) arrays at the Z accelerator have produced X-ray outputs of >350 kJ. The measured X-rays consist of the K-shell emission of aluminum and magnesium ions, stripped to the He- and H-like states, as well as free-bound continuum. For these tests we recorded these emissions with a variety of spectrometers: time-integrated, spatially resolved and time-resolved, spatially integrated spectrometers. These instruments were configured to capture the broad range of K-shell emissions from the plasma ions and as such were survey instruments, with spectral resolutions of approximately 300 (E/DeltaE). In this paper, details of the two Z shots, Z1519 and Z1520, will be presented. For these shots, each spectrometer showed intense Mg K-shell lines as well as intense Al K-shell lines; however, the intensity of the Mg lines exceeds the 5% Mg mass content of the 5056 alloy. In particular, the ratio of the Mg and Al Lyman-alpha lines approaches 25% (Mg/Al), suggestive of substantial line opacity. The time-resolved measurements show that the most intense lines (Al Lyman-alpha) persist for the camera´s entire detection time of 21 ns, exceeding that of the lower energy Al He-alpha line. Furthermore, the Al Lyman-alpha lines extend out to a radius of 4-5 mm, and uniformly emit along the plasma´s visible length; these observations are consistent with pinhole imaging data collected on the same shots. Measurements of the X-ray yields and pulse shapes will also be presented