Comparative Analysis of the Rayleigh-Taylor Instability Suppression During Compression of Metallic Gas-Puff Z Pinch at the MIG and GIT-12 Facilities

Abstract

We present experiments on implosion of metallic gas-puff Z-pinches. Experiments were performed on the MIG and GIT-12 pulse power generators. The MIG is a multifunctional pulse power generator with current amplitude of 2.5 MA and a current rise time of ∼ 100 ns [1]. The GIT-12 is an Arkadiev-Marx pulse power generator. It provides the current of 4.7 MA with the current rise time of $1.7 \mu\mathrm{s}$ in the short-circuit load [2]. Metallic gas-puff was the main element of the load on both generators. Metallic gas-puff Z-pinches were formed using plasma guns where plasma production was initiated by a high current vacuum arc discharge [3]. All of the plasma gun electrodes were made of magnesium or aluminum. To visualize the process of metallic gas-puff Z-pinch implosion, we performed time-gated imaging of the visible pinch radiation. An HSFC-Pro 4-channel, 12-bit intensified charge-coupled device (ICCD) camera was used to take 4 successive images in a single shot. The image analysis had shown that during implosion of the metallic gas-puff Z-pinch, the Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities were suppressed. Final pinch implosion diameter was determined. The optimal (from the point of view of radiation output in magnesium K-shell radiation) formation time of a plasma jet of a vacuum-arc discharge was determined.