Spectral measurements of radiation from a microsecond gas Z-pinch

The results of spectral measurements of radiation from microsecond gas Z-pinch are presented. The pinch current is 250 kA with a rise time of 1 μs. At the maximum nitrogen-pinch compression, the radiation spectrum corresponds to the emission of helium-, lithium-, and beryllium-like ions. The spectral-intensity peak lies within the spectral range 15–25 nm, which corresponds to the 2s-3p transitions of Li-and Be-like ions and to higher-energy transitions of these ionization states (2s-4p, 2s-5p, and 2s-6p). The spectra are measured in the first, second, and third diffraction orders. The total yield of X rays measured by a thermocouple-based calorimeter was 45 J at a 2-kJ electric energy stored in the capacitor bank. The pinch-radiation intensity and the spectra obtained experimentally are compared to the results of two-dimensional simulation of the emitting-plasma plasma dynamics using the ZETA radiation-magnetic hydrodynamic code.