Electromagnetic pulse emission produced by Z pinch implosions

Abstract

In this paper, we represent the radiation characteristics of electromagnetic pulse generated by Z pinch implosion. Magnetic energy which couples with motions of metallic wire arrays or solid liners driven by Z pinch can radiate away. Theoretical results indicate that the radiation power of electromagnetic pulse is determined by both load current and implosion trace. Experiments are carried on primary test stand facility at Institute of Fluid Physics where a current rising to 7 MA in (10%–90%) 65 ns is used to drive a wire array Z pinch. The measured load current and implosion trace show that the Z pinch can deliver about 1 GW, 10 ns full width, 20–70 MHz central frequency, broadband electromagnetic pulse with an energy conversion efficiency of 10-7. Parameters of electromagnetic pulse are much smaller than those of X-ray with a power of 50 TW and an energy of 0.5 MJ. In the approximation of weak relativistic case, the power of electromagnetic pulse which is proportional to sixth power of load current, dramatically increases with current increasing. Soft X-ray radiation is an important channel for dissipating a considerable fraction of energy provided by facility. The results presented here demonstrate that electromagnetic pulse emission in the case of higher load current can cause significant damage to diagnostic devices. Moreover, intense electromagnetic pulse produced by this method may have many potential applications.