X-pinch Backlighter Research Articles

Wire, hybrid, and laser-cut X-pinches as Talbot–Lau backlighters for electron density diagnostics

Talbot–Lau x-ray deflectometry (TXD) enables refraction-based imaging for high-energy-density physics experiments, and thus, it has been studied and developed with the goal of diagnosing plasmas relevant to inertial confinement and magnetic liner inertial fusion. X-pinches, known for reliably generating fast (∼1 ns), small (∼1 µm) x-ray sources, were driven on the compact current driver generator for ablation structure and implosion studies (∼200 kA, 150 ns) as a potential backlighter source for TXD. Considering that different X-pinch configurations have characteristic advantages and drawbacks as x-ray generating loads, three distinct copper X-pinch configurations were studied: the wire X-pinch, the hybrid X-pinch, and the laser-cut X-pinch. The Cu K-shell emission from each configuration was characterized and analyzed regarding the specific backlighter requirements for an 8 keV TXD system: spatial and temporal resolution, number of sources, time of emission, spectrum, and reproducibility. Recommendations for future experimental improvements and applications are presented. The electron density of static objects was retrieved from Moiré images obtained through TXD. This allowed to calculate the mass density of static samples within 4% of the expected value for laser-cut X-pinches, which were found to be the optimal X-pinch configuration for TXD due to their high reproducibility, small source size (⩽5 µm), short duration (∼1 ns), and up to 106 W peak power near 8 keV photon energy. Plasma loads were imaged through TXD for the first-time using laser-cut X-pinch backlighting. Experimental images were compared with simulations from the x-ray wave-front propagation code, demonstrating that TXD can be a powerful x-ray refraction-based diagnostic for dense Z-pinch loads. Future plans for Talbot–Lau interferometry diagnostics in the pulsed-power environment are described.

The inductively driven transmission line: A passively coupled device for diagnostic applications on the Z pulsed power facility.

The inductively driven transmission line (IDTL) is a miniature current-carrying device that passively couples to fringe magnetic fields in the final power feed on the Z Pulsed Power Facility. The IDTL redirects a small amount of Z's magnetic energy along a secondary path to ground, thereby enabling pulsed power diagnostics to be driven in parallel with the primary load for the first time. IDTL experiments and modeling presented here indicate that IDTLs operate non-perturbatively on Z and that they can draw in excess of 150 kA of secondary current, which is enough to drive an X-pinch backlighter. Additional experiments show that IDTLs are also capable of making cleaner, higher-fidelity measurements of the current flowing in the final feed.

Implementation of Talbot–Lau x-ray deflectometry in the pulsed power environment using a copper X-pinch backlighter

A Talbot–Lau x-ray deflectometer can map electron density gradients in high energy density plasmas, as well as provide information about plasma elemental composition through single-image x-ray refraction and attenuation measurements. A new adaptation to a pulsed power environment used backlighting from copper X-pinches, allowing for electron density mapping of a low-Z object. Even though the X-pinch backlighter is not properly optimized for emitting x-rays in terms of source size and photon fluence, Moire fringe patterns with contrast up to 14% and fringe shift due to refraction on a beryllium object are obtained. Due to the proximity of the deflectometer with the X-pinch (∼6 cm), it is shown that a protective filter is required to avoid damage in the closest (i.e., source) grating due to both plasma debris and mechanical shock. Regarding grating survival, these did not show any damage due to the intense magnetic field or heating induced by plasma radiation. Electron density on beryllium was measured with a difference lower than 16%. The areal electron density mapping of the sample was limited by source size characteristics, in similarity to transmission radiography. These results show the potential of plasma electron density as well as material mapping through Talbot–Lau x-ray deflectometry in a pulsed power environment.

Study of foil explosion using the soft x-ray radiography

The experiments were carried out upon a research facility comprising three current generators. One of them was used to initiate the explosion of a foil and the other two, X-pinch backlighting sources were used for diagnostics. In the experiments, an upper limit has been determined for the decay time of the metastable state of a superheated metal. For aluminum, at a foil thickness of 6 μm and a deposited energy of 5.3 ± 0.5 kJ/g, the metastable state decay time was about 90 ns; for copper, at the same foil thickness and a deposited energy of 2.1 ± 0.3 kJ/g, it was about 250 ns; for nickel at the same foil thickness and a deposited energy of 1.3 ± 0.4 kJ/g, it was about 390 ns.

Foil explosion and decay of metastable state

The mechanism of decay of the superheated metastable metal produced by a thin foil explosion was investigated experimentally. The decay of the metastable metal was indicated by the occurrence of bubbles detected using soft x-ray backlighting. The experiments were carried out on a research facility comprising three current generators. One of them was used to initiate the explosion of a test foil, and the other two, X-pinch backlighting sources, were used for diagnostics. In the experiments, an upper limit has been determined for the decay time of the metastable state of a superheated metal. For aluminum, at a foil thickness of 6 μm and a deposited energy of 1.49 ± 0.08 eV/atom, the metastable state decay time was about 90 ns; for copper, at the same foil thickness and a deposited energy of 1.46 ± 0.07 eV/atom, it was about 250 ns. Analysis of the experimental results based on the classical nucleation theory has made it possible to estimate the work required for the formation of a critical bubble, the radius of the critical bubble, and the Tolman length, which characterizes the effect of the surface curvature on the surface tension. The work required for the formation of a critical bubble has been estimated to be 16.6 ± 1.5 eV for aluminum and 18.3 ± 1.2 eV for copper. The critical bubble radius and the Tolman length turned out to be several nanometers for both test metals.

End-on x-ray backlighting experiments for axial diagnostics of wire-array Z-pinch plasma on PPG-1**Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11177086 and 51177086), Guangdong Innovative Research Team Program of China (Grant No. 2011S013), the National Key Research and Develop Program of China (Grant No. 2016YFC0105102), the National Basic Research Program of China (Grant Nos. 2012AA02A604 and

An X-pinch axial backlighting system has been designed to quantitatively measure the density distribution of wire-array Z-pinch plasmas. End-on backlighting experiments were carried out on a 200 kA, 100 ns pulsed-power generator (PPG-1) at the Tsinghua University. Compared with side-on backlighting, end-on measurements provide an axial view of the evolution of Z-pinch plasmas. Early stages of 2-, 4-, and 8-wire Z-pinch plasmas were observed via point-projection backlighting radiography with a relatively high success rate. The density distribution of Z-pinch plasma on the r–θ plane was obtained directly from the images with the help of step wedges, and the inward radial velocity was calculated. The ablation rates obtained by X-pinch backlighting experiments are compared in detail with those calculated by the rocket model and the results show consistency.

Talbot-Lau x-ray deflectometer electron density diagnostic for laser and pulsed power high energy density plasma experiments (invited).

Talbot-Lau X-ray deflectometry (TXD) has been developed as an electron density diagnostic for High Energy Density (HED) plasmas. The technique can deliver x-ray refraction, attenuation, elemental composition, and scatter information from a single Moiré image. An 8 keV Talbot-Lau interferometer was deployed using laser and x-pinch backlighters. Grating survival and electron density mapping were demonstrated for 25-29 J, 8-30 ps laser pulses using copper foil targets. Moiré pattern formation and grating survival were also observed using a copper x-pinch driven at 400 kA, ∼1 kA/ns. These results demonstrate the potential of TXD as an electron density diagnostic for HED plasmas.

Cable Array $Z$-Pinch Experiments at 1 MA

Individual wires in a <i xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Z</i> -pinch were replaced with twisted pairs of wires, i.e., “cables.” We define a cable here as two or more fine wires twisted together to form a continuous strand with a twist wavelength λ <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">t</sub> , dependent on the number of twists per unit length. Imploding Al cable array <i xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Z</i> -pinches show a λ <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">t</sub> -dependent increase in peak power above 1 keV. <i xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">X</i> -pinch backlighter radiography of nonimploding Ni and Cu cable arrays shows axially repeating shocklike structures. We have applied a filtered backprojection technique on these images in order to reconstruct a cross-sectional density mapping.

Experimental investigations of X-pinch backlighters on QiangGuang-1 generator

AbstractExperiments of the return current post installed X-pinches were carried out on the 1-MA “QiangGuang-1” facility with the purpose of understanding X-pinch characteristics under this setup and establishing X-pinch backlighting diagnostics for the wire-array Z-pinches. Different wire-array loads along with the two-wire 30 µm Mo X-pinch backlighter were tested. The X-pinches emit the X-ray radiation with the burst time variation of ± 4 ns and the bright spot size of ~30 µm. X-ray backlighting shadowgraphy images of the over-mass and radiation-suppressed Z-pinch wire array were obtained.

Structure of the dense cores and ablation plasmas in the initiation phase of tungsten wire-array Z pinches

The early stages of tungsten (W) wire-array Z-pinch implosions have been studied using two-frame point projection x-ray backlighting on the 1MA COBRA pulsed power generator [J. D. Douglass, J. B. Greenly, D. A. Hammer, and B. R. Kusse, in Proceedings of the 15th IEEE International Pulsed Power Conference, Monterey, 2005 (to be published)]. X-pinch backlighter images with subnanosecond time resolution and 4–10μm spatial resolution have been obtained of individual W exploding wires in 8-wire arrays that show evolution of wire-core and coronal plasma structures. The timing of the X-pinch x-ray bursts relative to the Z-pinch initiation time was adjusted over a 50ns time interval by varying the X-pinch mass per unit length. Wire-cores seen in two images separated in view by 120° show that the expansion is remarkably azimuthally symmetric. A strong correlation is observed between the structure on the dense exploding wire-cores and the structure of the ⩾1018∕cm3 ablation plasma being drawn from radial prominences. Plasma ablation velocity was estimated to have a lower bound of 24km∕s. The wire-core expansion rate was found to be approximately constant with time over the interval 50–100ns after the start of the current pulse. Finally, micron-scale axial gaps, seen as early as 70ns into the current pulse and persisting from that time, were observed along the wire-core.

Experimental measurement of Ag vapor polarizability using optical interferometry and x-ray radiography

In this paper we present an experimentally measured value for the linear polarizability of Ag neutral vapor generated by exploding fine wires. The polarizability $\ensuremath{\alpha},$ index of refraction $\ensuremath{\eta},$ and the neutral vapor volume density n are related by the expression $\ensuremath{\eta}\ensuremath{\simeq}1+2\ensuremath{\pi}n\ensuremath{\alpha}.$ The neutral vapor density was obtained from x-ray radiographic images taken using an X-pinch backlighter. The index of refraction was measured using an air-wedge shearing interferometer. The polarizability of Ag is obtained from these two measurements and compared to the theoretical predictions. Factors that can affect the measurement accuracy are also discussed.

Advanced x-ray and extreme ultraviolet diagnostics and first applications to x-pinch plasma experiments at the Nevada Terawatt Facility

A wide variety of x-ray and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) diagnostics are being developed to study z-pinch plasmas at the Nevada Terawatt Facility at the University of Nevada, Reno. Time-resolved x-ray/EUV imaging and spectroscopy, x-ray polarization spectroscopy, and backlighting will be employed to measure profiles of plasma temperature, density, flow, and charge state, and to investigate electron distribution functions and magnetic fields. The instruments are state-of-the-art applications of glass capillary converters (GCC), multilayer mirrors (MLM), and crystals. New devices include: a novel GCC-based two-dimensional imaging spectrometer, a six-channel crystal/MLM spectrometer (“polychromator”) with a transmission grating spectrometer, and two sets of x-ray/EUV polarimeters/spectrometers. An x-pinch backlighter is under development. X-ray polarimeter/spectrometer, a survey spectrometer, a multichannel time-gated x-ray pinhole camera, and filtered fast x-ray diodes have observed the structure of Ti and Fe x pinches driven by a 0.9 MA current. X-ray yield and pulse duration depend sensitively on the wire load.

X-ray backlighting of wire array Z-pinch implosions using X pinch

The dynamics of wire arrays have been studied using a point-projection X-pinch x-ray backlighter installed in one of the return posts of the MAGPIE generator. Variations of diameter (15–50 μm aluminum) and number of wires (two or four) in the X-pinch enabled backlit images in the range of 140–200 ns after the current start. A temporal and spatial resolution of &amp;lt;1 ns and 5 μm is achieved. The radiographic images of aluminum wire array show that the wire cores are present at the original position until 80% of the implosion time and the size of the wire cores is 0.25 mm for aluminum and 0.1 mm for tungsten. A very fine structure of the order of 10 μm has been observed in titanium wire arrays.

Density measurements in exploding wire-initiated plasmas using tungsten wires

Calibrated density measurements have been obtained of the coronal plasmas around exploding 7.5–40 μm W wires carrying 15–120 kA per wire for 30–70 ns. X-ray radiographs of the exploding wire plasmas using 2.5–10 keV photons from a Mo wire X-pinch backlighter enabled measurements of areal densities of W ranging from 2×1017/cm2, equivalent to 0.03 μm of solid density W, to about 1019/cm2. The rapidly expanding (few mm/μs) coronal plasmas surrounding the slowly expanding (&amp;lt;1 mm/μs) residual wire cores have areal densities up to about 2×1018/cm2. Single 7.5 μm wires tested with 100 kA had as much as 90% of the initial wire material in the coronal plasma. Coronal plasma W number densities were estimated to be up to a few times 1018/cm3, while core W densities as low as a few times 1020/cm3 were observed. With linear arrays of four (eight) 7.5 μm wires carrying 30 kA (15 kA)/wire, up to 35% (25%) of the initial W wire material was in the plasma around and between the wires at 46–48 ns after the current started. Preheating the wires to drive off adsorbed gases and hydrocarbons increased the W mass in the coronal plasma and made it more uniform then when wires were not preheated.