A supersonic nozzle for gas-puff Z-pinch

Summary form only given. In this paper Z-pinch plasma implosion was numerically simulated based on one-dimensional snow-plow model with differently presumed gas shells. An equivalent circuit of Z-pinch discharge was also established for calculating Z-pinch current. In the circuit model the plasma column of Z-pinch was considered as an inductor with variable inductance depending on the decreasing radius of the imploding plasma shell. The results show that the most suitable gas load to the pulsed power generator is a hollow cylindrical gas shell of 10 mm in outside radius, 4 mm in thickness and 6 /spl mu/s/cm in line mass density. Based on the results from simulation a supersonic nozzle was designed. The gas flow from the nozzle was measured by a miniature ionization gauge. It was found that the rise time of the gas flow is less than 100 /spl mu/s. The line mass density and the distribution of the gas flow are being measured.