Temporal characteristics and radiative properties of uniform Mo and combined with Al triple planar wire arrays

Abstract

Results of the research with triple planar wire arrays (TPWAs) made of uniform Mo or from combined Mo and Al planes obtained on the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) Zebra generator are presented. The combined loads consisted of either two Mo planes on the outside with Al in the center or two Al planes on the outside with Mo in the center. Different wire diameters of Mo and Al were used to keep the planes approximately the same mass Also, the change of inter-planar gap was investigated: decreasing the inter-planar gap from 3.0 mm to 1.5 mm led to a higher yield of 25 kJ (up from 16 kJ), close to the highest yield from Mo double planar wire arrays. The question of how Mo and Al plasmas mix is raised and is examined and as a result it is demonstrated that L-shell Mo (∼1000 eV) and K-shell Al (∼400 eV) plasmas have very different electron temperatures. Additionally, time-gated K-shell Al and Mg plasma parameters were modeled, giving important information on the time-evolution of such plasmas. The future work on radiation from mixed higher and lower atomic number wire arrays is discussed.