Generation of μs-stable Z-pinches at a temperature in the order of 200 eV

Summary form only given. Experiments were conducted in which a pseudospark chamber was used as a discharge tube for steady-state Z-pinches. The main advantage of the chamber is the metallic environment and a low-surface-area effect in the channel, which leads to very low line densities in the pseudospark discharge (N=10¹⁴-10¹⁵ cm^-1). It is concluded therefore that most of the ions come from the gas filling. A shock-wave-triggered 100-ns-long pseudospark itself is the preionization source, which prepares a current path for the Z-pinch and gives an initial electron temperature. Hydrogen-pinches driven with a simple RL circuit start to radiate soft X-rays at a current of 4 kA, corresponding to a plasma temperature of 80 eV. At I=12 kA the temperature finally reaches 280 eV. The radiation length is governed by the positive half wave of the current (1 μs). The radiation turns on again in the following periods of current reversals, so that the total radiation time adds up to 4 μs and more. M=0 instabilities are observed only in those cases where dI/dt is below 10⁹ A/s