Investigations of micropinches with comparison to the predictions of the radiative collapse model

Abstract

A unique feature of high-current vacuum spark discharges is the occurrence of one or a few extremely hot and dense micropinches, which are intense emitters of radiation in the x-ray region. We report on investigations of such hot plasma points of Al, Fe and Mo and on a comparison of their parameters with predictions by a radiative collapse model. The agreement is good. The origin of the K α-radiation in the case of high atomic number elements is discussed, and the potential as a subnano-second high-brightness x-ray source is pointed out.