Temporal Correlations Between Hard X-Ray and Neutron Pulses in the PACO Plasma Focus Device

An experimental study on the fluctuations in the instants of time and amplitudes of the peaks in the voltage, current time derivative, X-rays, and neutron signals during a 150-shot series in a 2 kJ Plasma Focus device is presented. The results show a reasonable correlation between the time of the voltage peak and that of X-ray emission, in agreement with the picture of the formation of an electron beam accelerated by this voltage. However, the time differences between X-rays and neutron maximum emission are difficult to interpret in terms of a common origin.