The Study of a Fibre Z-Pinch

Abstract

This thesis presents the results of fibre Z-pinch experiments carried out on the Z-150 device at the CTU in Prague. The generator that was used to drive the experiments consisted of one capacitor of 3e-6 F capacitance. In the case of 20 kV charging voltage, the current was peaking at 80 kA with a 850 ns quarter period. The Z-pinch was formed from carbon fibres of 15 micrometer diameter and 1 cm length. The discharge was observed by a large number of diagnostic tools. This comprehensive set of diagnostics enabled us to describe the gross dynamics of the Z-pinch. It was found out that after the breakdown a low density coronal plasma was formed while the fibre diameter remained almost unchanged. This low density corona was carrying almost all the current of the order of 10 kA. When the current had built up, the implosion of the corona onto the central fibre occurred. The implosion velocity approached the value of 2e5 m/s. When the imploded corona had reached the fibre, the dip in dI/dt, voltage peak up to 10 kV, and XUV pulse of a 10-30 ns width were observed. XUV radiation was emitted from several bright spots which corresponded to the interaction of m=0 instability necks with the dense core. The electron temperature and density were approximately 80 eV and 10e25 per cubic meter, respectively. Although the presence of a fibre did not significantly suppress MHD instabilities, they were not disruptive. After the fibre ablation, i.e. after 500 ns, material evaporated from electrodes started to play a dominant role. The observed plasma column seemed to be MHD unstable and when m=0 instabilities had developed, X-ray pulses were emitted from several hot spots, particularly near the anode. At that time the voltage peak of up to 30 kV was detected.