Implosion dynamics and x-ray generation in small-diameter wire-array Z pinches.

It is known from experiments that the radiated x-ray energy appears to exceed the calculated implosion kinetic energy and Spitzer resistive heating [C. Deeney, Phys. Rev.

Mitigation of the plasma-implosion inhomogeneity in starlike wire-array Z pinches.

Implosions in starlike triple and quadruple wire arrays were investigated in a 1 MA Zebra generator. Implosion in these loads is directed along the rays of the star and cascades from wire to wire to the center. Shadowgraphy shows improved homogeneity of imploding plasma and mitigation of instabilities.

Absolute brightness of laser plasmas in the soft-x-ray emission band.

A new method for the determination of the absolute brightness of pointlike soft-x-ray sources is proposed, and an example of its application is shown at a laser-plasma source for a wavelength band from 0.8 to ~ 1.7nm.

Normal-incidence multilayer mirrors for the 120-450 å wavelength region.

An electron-beam deposition method is used to fabricate spherical and flat mirrors with a peak reflectivity of 20% for wavelengths between 120 and 450 Å. It is experimentally shown that the fabricated mirrors can be employed to form an image with a resolution of 1 μm for ultrasoft x rays. The possibility of producing intense directional high-temperature plasma radiation by spherical multilayer mirrors is demonstrated.