The stabilizing effect of a sheared axial flow on the mϭ1 kink instability in Z pinches has been studied numerically with a linearized ideal magnetohydrodynamic model to reveal that a sheared axial flow stabilizes the kink mode when the shear exceeds a threshold. The sheared flow stabilizing effect is investigated with the ZaP ͑Z-Pinch͒ Flow Z-pinch experiment at the University of Washington. An axially flowing Z pinch is generated with a 1 m coaxial accelerator coupled to a pinch assembly chamber. The plasma assembles into a pinch 50 cm long with a radius of approximately 1 cm. An azimuthal array of surface mounted magnetic probes located at the midplane of the pinch measures the fluctuation levels of the azimuthal modes mϭ1, 2, and 3. After the pinch assembles a quiescent period is found where the mode activity is significantly reduced. Optical images from a fast framing camera and a ruby holographic interferometer indicate a stable, discrete pinch plasma during this time. Multichord Doppler shift measurements of impurity lines show a large, sheared flow during the quiescent period and low, uniform flow profiles during periods of high mode activity. Z-pinch plasmas have been produced that are globally stable for over 700 times the theoretically predicted growth time for the kink mode of a static Z pinch. The plasma has a sheared axial flow that exceeds the theoretical threshold for stability during the quiescent period and is lower than the threshold during periods of high mode activity.

We report ultrashort pulse, 1 kHz repetition rate x-ray generation in the 5–20 keV spectral region, induced by the interaction of laser radiation with copper nitrate solution and ethylene glycol liquid-jet targets. The characteristics of the copper nitrate source are relevant for application to time-resolved x-ray diffraction studies as well as for spectroscopic x-ray absorption studies. The x-ray sources were operated uninterrupted for in excess of 5 h with no detectable buildup of debris on the associated optics. The x-ray flux generated by both sources is estimated to be of the order of 106 photons s−1 sr−1 in the 5–20 keV region. The spectra have been measured with both a PIN photodiode, and with transmission measurements taken using aluminum filters. We find that the plasma emission has a broadband component attributed to bremsstrahlung emission, with the bulk of the x-ray emission emitted from the chamber lying between 5 and 20 keV for both sources. The copper nitrate emission, however, delivers a dominant emission peak at 9 keV, attributed to the characteristic K emission of copper.

The acceleration of hydrogen ions up to 35 MeV is observed in the z-pinch experiments on the GIT-12 generator at a 3 MA current and 0.6 MV driving voltage. High ion energies are obtained with a novel configuration of a deuterium gas-puff z-pinch. In this configuration, a hollow cylindrical plasma shell is injected around an inner deuterium gas puff to form a homogeneous, uniformly conducting layer between electrodes at the initial phase of z-pinch implosion. The stable implosion at the velocity up to 650 km s −1 is important to deliver more current onto the z-pinch axis. Magnetohydrodynamic instabilities become apparent first at stagnation. After the disruptive development of m=0 instabilities, ∼20 ns pulses of high-energy photons, neutrons, electrons, and ions are observed. The average neutron yield is 2×10 12 . The ion emission is characterized by various diagnostic techniques including those based on the usage of neutronproducing samples. When a large neutron-producing sample is placed onto the axis below a cathode mesh, the neutron yield is increased up to (1.1±0.3)×10 13 . Considering a ∼130 kJ energy input into z-pinch plasmas and magnetic field, this implies the neutron production efficiency of ∼10 8 neutrons per one Joule of the z-pinch energy.

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