Magnetic field effects on the ablation phase of wire array Z-pinches, as observed with end-on imaging

摘要

Magnetic field measurements inside wire-array Z-pinches have shown significant field penetration during the ablation phase, as wire material streams toward the axis producing the mass distribution that ultimately determines the implosion characteristics. End-on imaging is especially useful for observing the dynamical effects of the magnetic field on the ablation streams. Quantitative end-on imaging with X-pinches has been successfully developed on Cornell's COBRA accelerator by Isaac Blesener. These images show both the radial distribution of mass in the ablation streams and the transverse (azimuthal) structure of the streams, which tend to be focused into narrow sheets of plasma from the individual wires that merge into a quasi-axisymmetric distribution only quite near the axis.