Micropinch Formation in the SPEED 2 Plasma Focus

Micropinch formation is described as local collapses initiated in necked regions of a pinch plasma column by enhanced plasma radiation and particle outflow [1]. While the final stage of this formation is well known from soft X‐ray measurements (λ < 2 nm) [2] the local and temporal conditions of the initial phase has not yet been clarified.Therefore a fast (ns) four frame pinhole camera system has been applied to the SPEED 2 plasma focus in order to investigate the micropinch formation process in a wavelength range from VUV to the soft X‐ray (0.4 nm).The experimental setup consists of a configuration of four pinholes each imaging the pinch plasma. These pictures are taken with a special microchannel plate which is divided into four independent sectors. Each sector can be independently gated by a short triggerpulse (FWHM 5 ns) leading to an exposure time of a few nanoseconds. Therefore four differently time delayed pictures are taken during a single discharge.Different filters allow to determine the spectra...