Gas puff radiation performance as a function of radial mass distribution

The basic concept of a z-pinch, that JxB forces implode a shell of mass, creating a hot dense plasma on-axis, is coming under closer scrutiny. Wire arrays may start with an initial cold mass in a near “ideal” shell, but in fact they appear to develop complex radial mass distributions well before the final x-ray output [1,2]. We consider here the situation for gas puff z-pinches. While the ideal of a gas “shell” has been the nominal objective for many years, detailed measurements of gas flow show that nozzles used for plasma radiation sources (PRS) also have complex radial distributions. In particular, there are significant data [3] showing that the best x-ray yield comes from the least shell-like distributions. Recent experiments on the Double Eagle generator with argon have further enhanced this view [4]. For those tests with a double “shell” nozzle, there was a factor of almost 4 increase in yield when the relative mass (outer:inner) in the two shells was changed from 2∶1 to less than 1∶1. We suggest the following explanation. A configuration with most of its mass at large radii is subject to severe disruption by instabilities during the implosion. A more continuous radial mass distribution with dp/dr < 0 may mitigate instability development (via the “snowplow stabilization” [5] mechanism) and thus enhance the thermalization of the kinetic energy of the imploding mass. In addition, the appropriate balance of outer to inner mass maximizes the formation of a strong shock in the core of the pinch that heats the plasma and leads to x-ray emission.