An electrode configuration with microhollow array dielectric and anode was developed to obtain parallel vacuum arc discharge. Compared with the conventional electrodes, more than 10 parallel microhollow discharges were ignited for the new configuration, which increased the discharge area significantly and made the cathode eroded more uniformly. The vacuum discharge channel number could be increased effectively by decreasing the distances between holes or increasing the arc current. Experimental results revealed that plasmas ejected from the adjacent hollow and the relatively high arc voltage were two key factors leading to the parallel discharge. The characteristics of plasmas in the microhollow were investigated as well. The spectral line intensity and electron density of plasmas in microhollow increased obviously with the decease of the microhollow diameter.

Z-pinch dynamic hohlraums (ZPDHs) could potentially be used to drive inertial confinement fusion targets. Double- or multishell capsules using the technique of volume ignition could exploit the advantages of ZPDHs while tolerating their radiation asymmetry, which would be unacceptable for a central ignition target. In this paper, we review research on Z-pinch implosions and ZPDHs for indirect drive targets at the Institute of Nuclear Physics and Chemistry, China Academy of Engineering Physics. The characteristics of double-shell targets and the associated technical requirements are analyzed through a one-dimensional computer code developed from MULTI-IFE. Some key issues regarding the establishment of suitable sources for dynamic hohlraums are introduced, such as soft X-ray power optimization, novel methods for plasma profile modulation, and the use of thin-shell liner implosions to inhibit the generation of prior-stagnated plasma. Finally, shock propagation and radiation characteristics in a ZPDH are presented and discussed, together with some plans for future work.

Ablation processes of ribbon-array loads, as well as wire-array loads for comparison, were investigated on Qiangguang-1 accelerator. The ultraviolet framing images indicate that the ribbon-array loads have stable passages of currents, which produce axially uniform ablated plasma. The end-on x-ray framing camera observed the azimuthally modulated distribution of the early ablated ribbon-array plasma and the shrink process of the x-ray radiation region. Magnetic probes measured the total and precursor currents of ribbon-array and wire-array loads, and there exists no evident difference between the precursor currents of the two types of loads. The proportion of the precursor current to the total current is 15% to 20%, and the start time of the precursor current is about 25 ns later than that of the total current. The melting time of the load material is about 16 ns, when the inward drift velocity of the ablated plasma is taken to be 1.5 × 107 cm/s.

The interaction of a light tungsten wire-array Z-pinch with an embedded heavy foam converter, whose mass ratio is typically less than 0.16, is numerically analyzed and experimentally investigated on the 1.3 MA "QiangGuang I" facility. Computational results show that this implosion process can be divided into three stages: acceleration of the tungsten wire-array plasma, collision, and stagnation. The tungsten plasma is accelerated to a high speed by the J Â B force and interacts weakly with the foam plasma in the first stage. Strong energy conversions take place in the second collision stage. When the high speed tungsten plasma impacts on the foam converter, the plasma is thermalized and a radial radiation peak is produced. Meanwhile, a shock wave is generated due to the collision. After the shock rebounds from the axis and meets the W/Foam boundary, the plasma stagnates and the second radial radiation peak appears. The collision and stagnation processes were observed and the two-peak radial radiation pulse was produced in experiments. Increasing the wire-array radius from 4 mm to 6 mm, the kinetic energy of the tungsten plasma is increased, causing a stronger thermalization and generating a higher first radiation peak. Experimental results also showed a higher ratio of the first peak to the second peak in the case of larger wire-array radius. If we add a thin CH film cover onto the surface of the embedded foam converter, the first radiation peak will be hardly changed, because the acceleration of the tungsten plasma is not evidently affected by the film cover. However, the second radiation peak decreases remarkably due to the large load mass and the corresponding weak compression. V C 2014 AIP Publishing LLC. [http://dx.

Quasi-spherical (QS) implosion of wire arrays and its impact on the foam target have been studied on the 100 ns 1.5 MA Qiangguang-I facility, which suggests that a high quality impact between the QS implosion and foam target can be achieved by adjusting load's initial shape carefully to match the external magnetic pressure. Implosions of loads with H/d ∼ 1.2 were studied with a self-emission x-ray pinhole image system and a dark field schlieren system. The radially developed spike-like instabilities indicate the spherical convergence of plasma. The observed radiation on the foam target surface suggests satisfying implosion symmetry and wire-foam impact simultaneity. An average implosion speed of 10.5 × 106 cm/s was obtained with an optical streak image system. The derived peak kinetic energy density ∼2.1 kJ/cm is remarkably higher than cylindrical cases, which agree with the expectations.