Radiation from mixed multi-planar wire arrays

Abstract

The study of radiation from different wire materials in wire array Z-pinch plasma is a very challenging topic because it is almost impossible to separate different plasmas at the stagnation. A new approach is suggested based on planar wire array (PWA) loads to assess this problem. Multi-planar wire arrays are implemented that consist of few planes, each with the same number of wires and masses but from different wire materials, arranged in parallel rows. In particular, the experimental results obtained with triple PWAs (TPWAs) on the UNR Zebra generator are analyzed with Wire Ablation Dynamics Model, non-local thermodynamic equilibrium kinetic model, and 2D radiation magneto-hydrodynamic to illustrate this new approach. In TPWAs, two wire planes were from mid-atomic-number wire material and another plane was from alloyed Al, placed either in the middle or at the edge of the TPWA. Spatial and temporal properties of K-shell Al and L-shell Cu radiations were analyzed and compared from these two configurations of TPWAs. Advantages of the new approach are demonstrated and future work is discussed.