Temperature measurements of a neon Z-pinch plasma

Abstract

A neon Z-pinch plasma, appropriate for sodium/neon photopumping experiments, is studied in detail using temporally, spatially, and spectrally resolved measurements of Ne VII, Ne VIII, and Ne IX emissions. The neon is imploded with a 1 μs rise time, 150–180 kA peak current pulse. Two successive implosions are identified. The first implosion produces a 1-mm-diam plasma with an electron density of 9×1019 cm−3 and a temperature of 200 eV. The second implosion produces a larger diameter (3.5 mm), less dense (7×1018 cm−3) plasma with a temperature of 100 eV. A 70% Ne IX ground-state population at the second implosion is deduced from the measurements.