Time-Resolved Thomson Scattering on Gas-Puff Z-Pinch Plasmas at Pinch Time

The conditions and dynamics of neon gas puff Z-pinch plasmas at pinch time are studied on a pulsed power generator with a current rise time of approximately 200-ns and 0.9-mA peak current. Radial tailoring of the gas puff mass-density profile using a triple-nozzle coaxial valve (two annular gas liners and a central jet) allows production of both more stable and less stable (with regard to the magneto-Rayleigh–Taylor instability) Z-pinch implosions. A 526.5-nm, 10-J Thomson scattering diagnostic laser enables probing of the flow dynamics and plasma conditions of these implosions with both spatial and temporal resolutions. The 2.2-ns laser pulse scatters from the plasma electrons and is carried by one optical fiber to a visible light streak camera, and by a bundle of optical fibers to a time-gated camera, both after spectral dispersion by 750-mm spectrometers. The streak camera, with a 10-ns full streak time, provides subnanosecond resolution of the evolution of the pinch plasma parameters through stagnation. The time-gated camera provides spatially resolved spectra (across a field of view of 6.1 mm) at the same time as the streak. Scattering spectra suggest that temperatures are high at stagnation, with the ion temperature as much as three times higher than the electron temperature. However, we consider the possibility of nonthermal explanations for the broad scattering spectra and high effective ion temperature, including collisionality, implosion velocity distributions (velocity gradients), and small-scale hydrodynamic motion.