Study of the implosion of wire arrays at the PF-3 facility

Results of experiments on the compression of tungsten wire arrays by the plasma current sheath (PCS) of the PF-3 facility at currents of up to 2 MA are presented. The efficiency of current transportation to the wire array and switching-over of the discharge current to the array were studied. Information on the penetration of the magnetic field into the wire array obtained using microprobes made it possible to compare the obtained experimental data with the results of magnetic field measurements carried out at other high-power electrophysical devices. The intensity of plasma production from tungsten wires under the action of the plasma focus PCS is estimated. The experimental results are tested against the existing models of wire array implosion with prolonged plasma production.     

Experiments on the implosion of heterogeneous wire arrays on the S-300 facility

Results are presented from experiments on the implosion of simple and nested wire arrays of different mass and material composition (W and/or Al). The experiments were performed on the S-300 facility (a high-current pulsed power generator with a voltage pulse amplitude of 700 kV, current amplitude of 2.5–3.5 MA, and pulse duration of 100 ns) at the Kurchatov Institute (Moscow). The imploding arrays were recorded using five-frame laser shadowgraphy, three-frame image-tube photography, an optical streak camera, X-ray pinhole cameras with different filters, X-ray polychromator, and X-ray spectrometer on the basis of a convex mica crystal. Laser probing measurements indicate that the current-carrying structure undergoes a fast (over a time shorter than 10 ns) global rearrangement, which manifests itself as the emergence of transparent regions. This effect is presumably related to the grouping of the wires, which carry currents of a few tens of kiloamperes, or to the current filamentation in their common plasma corona. The radiation of liners of different chemical composition in the final compressed state has been investigated. Electric measurements performed in experiments with nested arrays (e.g., with an aluminum outer liner and a tungsten inner liner) indicate that the inner array, which is still at rest, intercepts the electric current from the outer array when the latter penetrates through it. The effect of the “fall” of the outer liner through the inner one in the course of magnetic implosion has been revealed for the first time by analyzing X-ray emission spectra.     

Anisotropy of energy losses in high-current Z-pinches produced by the implosion of cylindrical tungsten wire arrays

Results are presented from measurements of the anisotropy of energy losses in high-current Z-pinches produced by the implosion of wire arrays at the ANGARA-5-1 facility at load currents of up to 4MA. The energy losses were measured in the radial direction and along the pinch axis from the anode side. The main diagnostics were time-integrated thermocouple calorimeters, nanosecond X-ray diodes (XRDs) with different filters, and a foil radiation calorimeter with a time resolution of 2 μs. The azimuthal anisotropy of energy losses was measured for different wire array configurations and different shapes of the high-voltage electrode. The presence of strong initial azimuthal inhomogeneity of the wire mass distribution (sectioned arrays), as well as the use of conical electrodes instead of plane ones, does not increase the azimuthal inhomogeneity of the total energy losses. For cylindrical wire arrays, energy losses in the radial direction are compared with those along the pinch axis. According to XRD and calorimetric measurements, the radiation yield per unit solid angle along the pinch axis is two to three times lower than that in the radial direction. In the axial direction, the energy flux density of the expanding plasma is two to three times lower than the radiation intensity. The measured radiation yield across the pinch is 2.5–5 kJ/sr, while that along the pinch axis is 1–2 kJ/sr. The results obtained by means of XRDs agree to within measurement errors with those obtained using the radiation calorimeter. It is found that the energy per unit solid angle carried by the expanding plasma in the radial direction does not exceed 10% of the soft X-ray yield. Analysis of the structure of time-integrated pinhole images and signals from the radial and axial XRDs shows that radiation emitted in the radial direction from the hot central region of the pinch is partially screened by the less dense surrounding plasma halo, whereas radiation emitted in the axial direction is a superposition of the emissions from the hot dense central region of the pinch and the colder less dense peripheral plasma.     

Study of the magnetic fields and soft X-ray emission generated in the implosion of double wire arrays

Results are presented from measurements of the azimuthal magnetic field generated during the implosion of double (nested) tungsten wire arrays in the Angara-5-1 facility at currents of ～3 MA. It is found that the inner array affects the current distribution in the interarray space and that there is an optimal mass (an optimal number of wires) of the inner array at which the full width at half-maximum of the soft X-ray pulse (in the photon energy range of >100 eV) is minimal. On the average, double wire arrays provide a better reproductibility, higher power, and shorter duration of the soft X-ray pulse in comparison to single arrays.     

Specific features of implosion of metallized fiber arrays

Implosion of metallized fiber arrays was studied experimentally at the Angara-5-1 facility. The use of such arrays makes it possible to investigate the production and implosion dynamics of plasmas of various metals (such as tin, indium, and bismuth) that were previously unavailable for such studies. The plasma production rates ? (in μg/(cm² ns)) for different metals were determined and quantitatively compared. Varying the thickness of the metal layer deposited on kapron fibers (the total linear mass of the metal coating being maintained at the level of 220 μg/cm), the current and velocity of the plasma precursor were studied as functions of the thickness of the metal coating. The strong difference in the rates of plasma production from the metal coating and kapron fibers results in the redistribution of the discharge current between the Z-pinch and the trailing fiber plasma. The outer boundary of the plasma produced from the metal coating is found to be stable against instabilities typical of the final stage of implosion of conventional wire arrays.     

Measurements of the axial magnetic field during the implosion of wire arrays in the Angara-5-1 facility

Results are presented from measurements of the axial magnetic field during the implosion of tungsten wire arrays in the Angara-5-1 facility at currents of 2.5–4.5 MA. The azimuthal structure of the plasma produced from the wires is examined using the effect of the compression of the axial magnetic flux by this plasma. It is shown that the plasma starts to penetrate into the axial region of the wire array at the very beginning of implosion. A mechanism other than the formation of a closed current-carrying shell is proposed for describing the transfer of the external axial magnetic field to the central region of the array.     

Dynamics of the implosion of a tungsten wire array onto the central aluminum wire

Results are presented from the studies of the magnetic implosion of a tungsten wire liner onto an aluminum wire at currents of 2.0–2.6 MA. The experiments were carried out in the S-300 high-power pulsed facility at the Russian Research Centre Kurchatov Institute. The liner is composed of 50 wires 6 μm in diameter and 1 cm in length, which are equally spaced on a circle 1 cm in diameter. An aluminum wire 120 μm in diameter is positioned at the array axis. The liner implosion was accompanied by the generation of VUV and soft X-ray emission. The parameters of the pinch plasma produced during the liner implosion onto the aluminum wire were determined from the time-resolved spectral measurements by a five-channel polychromator. The ion and electron densities turned out to be equal to n _i≈4×10¹⁹ cm⁻³ and n _e≈4×10²⁰ cm⁻³, respectively, and the electron temperature was T _e≈40 eV. The radiation energy measured in the range 50–600 eV was 2–10 kJ. The sources of soft X-ray emission in hydrogen-and helium-like aluminum lines were the bright spots and local objects (clouds) formed in the plasma corona at an electron temperature of 200–500 eV and electron density of 10²¹–10²² cm⁻³. The possibility of both the generation of an axial magnetic field during the liner implosion and the conversion of the energy of this field into soft X-ray emission is discussed. __________ Translated from Fizika Plazmy, Vol. 28, No. 6, 2002, pp. 514–521. Original Russian Text Copyright ? 2002 by Bakshaev, Blinov, Dan'ko, Ivanov, Klír, Korolev, Kravárik, Krása, Kubeš, Tumanov, Chernenko, Chesnokov, Shashkov, Juha.     

Studies of the distribution of the Z-pinch radiance during the implosion of wire arrays in the angara-5-1 facility

Results are presented from time-integrated measurements of soft X-ray emission from Z-pinches during the implosion of simple and nested wire arrays. The blackening density distribution obtained with the help of a pinhole camera is recalculated into the time-integrated Z-pinch radiance. It is found that, in the case of a simple wire array, up to 70% of the total SXR energy emitted during a discharge is radiated from the axial region, the rest of energy being radiated from plasma jets, whereas in the case of a nested wire array, more than 90% of the SXR energy is radiated from the axial region.     

Effect of the plasma production rate on the implosion dynamics of cylindrical wire/fiber arrays with a profiled linear mass

Results are presented from experimental studies on the implosion of arrays made of wires and metalized fibers under the action of current pulses with an amplitude of up to 3.5 MA at the Angara-5-1 facility. The effect of the parameters of an additional linear mass of bismuth and gold deposited on the wires/fibers is investigated. It is examined how the material of the wires/fibers and the metal coating deposited on them affect the penetration of the plasma with the frozen-in magnetic field into a cylindrical array. Information on the plasma production rate $\dot m_{Bi}$ for different metals is obtained by analyzing optical streak images of imploding arrays. The plasma production rate for cylindrical arrays made of the kapron fibers coated with bismuth is determined. For the initial array radius of R ₀ = 1 cm and discharge current of I = 1 MA, the plasma production rate is found to be $\dot m_{Bi} \approx 0.095 \pm 0.015$ μg/(cm² ns).     

Study of the radiation spectra of fast Z-pinches formed during the implosion of wire arrays in the Angara-5-1 facility

Results are presented from measurements of the radiation spectra of the Z-pinch tungsten plasma produced during the implosion of cylindrical wire arrays with a linear mass of 200?C400 ??g/cm and an initial diameter of 12?C20 mm at a current of ??3 MA in the experiments performed at the Angara-5-1 facility. The radiation spectra in the photon energy range of 50?C900 eV were recorded on a UF-4 X-ray film by using a spectrograph with a transmission grating. The radiation spectrum in the photon energy range of 1?C3 keV was recorded using a crystalline panoramic spectrograph. A curtain shutter was used to protect the transmission grating from fast microparticles produced due to the erosion of high-voltage electrodes. The total radiation yield was measured with a thermocouple calorimeter. It is shown that most of the tungsten plasma radiation energy is emitted in the photon energy range of 80?C300 eV. Measurements of the spectral intensity of pinch radiation with a spatial resolution along the pinch radius showed that the effective transverse diameter of the pinch did not exceed 2 mm, which agrees with independent current measurements of the pinch size. The results of measurements of the spectral intensity of pinch radiation were compared with calculations per-formed under the assumption of a stationary homogeneous plasma.     

Study of the effect of preliminary wire explosion on X-ray generation during wire array Z-pinch implosion

Results are presented from experimental studies and numerical simulations of the effect of preliminary wire explosion on the parameters of X-ray emission generated during wire array Z-pinch implosion. The wire array implosion was driven by a current pulse with an amplitude of 0.5 MA and a rise time of 0.5 μs, while the preliminary wire explosion was produced by a current pulse with an amplitude of 0.5–1 kA per wire, a rise time of 100 ns, and a full width at half maximum of ～200 ns. The experiments showed that the current prepulse significantly impaired the parameters of X-ray pulses. In particular, along with a decrease in the amplitude and an increase in the duration of the X-ray pulse, its spiky structure became more pronounced. The results of numerical simulations with the use of a one-dimensional radiative MHD code are in good agreement with the parameters of Z-pinch emission in experiments with and without a current prepulse.     

Study of the implosion characteristics of quasi-spherical wire arrays on the Angara-5-1 facility at currents of up to 4 MA

Results are presented from experimental studies of the spatial distribution of the density of matter in the central part of the discharge gap and the formation of the temporal profile of the X-ray power in the course of implosion of quasi-spherical wire arrays at discharge currents of up to 4 MA. The spatial distribution of the X-ray intensity in the central part of the discharge gap and the temporal profile of the X-ray power are used as implosion characteristics of quasi-spherical wire arrays. The quasi-spherical arrays were formed by the radial stretching of unstrained wires of initially cylindrical and conical wire arrays under the action of the electrostatic field. The temporal profile of the output X-ray pulse in the photon energy range of 0.1–1 keV is shown to depend on both the geometrical parameters of the quasi-spherical array and the longitudinal distribution of its mass. It is found that a 40% increase in the wire mass due to deposition of an additional mass in the equatorial region of a quasi-spherical array leads to a 15% increase in the average current radius of the pinch and a 30% decrease in the X-ray yield. Experiments with quasi-spherical arrays made of kapron fibers with deposited Al and Bi conducting layers were also carried out. It is demonstrated that application of such arrays makes it possible to control the profile and duration of the generated X-ray pulse by varying the mass, material, and location of the deposited layer. It is found that deposition of an additional mass in the form of a thin Bi stripe on tungsten wires near the cathode end of the array allows one to mitigate the influence of the cathode zipper effect on the pinch compression and formation of the X-ray pulse in tungsten arrays.     

Determination of the parameters of the hot plasma formed during the implosion of wire arrays from time-resolved X-ray spectra of H- and He-like ions

A system for recording X-ray ion spectra by means of a spherical crystal with the subsequent transformation of the X-ray spectrum into an optical image recorded with the help of an optical streak camera is described. A computer code intended to recover the plasma parameters from the intensities of spectral lines of H- and He-like ions of some chemical elements (z = 6–29) is developed. Results of experiments on the determination of the parameters of hot plasma formed during the implosion of nested aluminum wire arrays at the S-300 high-current generator are presented.     

Neutron emission during the implosion of a wire array onto a deuterated fiber

Results are presented from Z-pinch experiments performed in the S-300 facility (Kurchatov Institute) at a maximum current of 2 MA and current rise time of 100 ns. The Z-pinch load was a 1-cm-long 1-cmdiameter cylindrical array made of 40 tungsten wires with a total mass of 160 μg, at the axis of which a 100-μm-diameter (CD₂) _n deuterated fiber was installed. Hard X-ray and neutron signals were recorded using five scintillation detectors oriented in one radial and two axial directions. The maximum neutron yield from the DD reaction reached 3 × 10⁹ neutrons per shot. The average neutron energy was determined from time-of-flight measurements and Monte Carlo simulations under the assumption that the neutron emission time was independent of the neutron energy. The average neutron energy in different experiments was found to vary within the range 2.5–2.7 MeV. The fact that the average neutron energy was higher than 2.45 MeV (the energy corresponding to the DD reaction) is attributed to the beam-target collisional mechanism for the acceleration of deuterons to 100–500 keV.     

Use of Relibase for retrieving complex three-dimensional interaction patterns including crystallographic packing effects

Relibase is a database system that has been specially designed to handle protein-ligand data. Included within Relibase is a tool that can be used to systematically analyse protein-ligand interaction patterns specified by three-dimensional (3D) constraints, revealing favorable combinations of interacting functional groups and their preferred interaction geometries. This paper describes the Relibase 3D query tools, including novel extensions (Relibase+) for handling crystallographic packing effects. Examples illustrating the broad range of functionality for defining 3D interaction patterns and the application of such queries in drug design comprise carbonyl-carbonyl interactions, zinc binding site environments, and ligand-ligand interactions in the crystal packing.     

Studies of the implosion of cylindrical fiber arrays on the Angara-5-1 facility

Results are presented from experimental studies of the implosion of cylindrical kapron fiber arrays with addition of high- and medium-Z metal wires (tungsten, aluminum). The experiments were carried out on the Angara-5-1 facility at currents of 3–4 MA. The ablation rate in kapron fiber arrays is estimated and compared with that in tungsten wire arrays.     

Experimental and numerical studies of plasma production in the initial stage of implosion of a cylindrical wire array

The features are studied of plasma production in the initial stage of implosion of hollow cylindrical wire arrays at electric-field growth rates of 10¹² V/(cm s). The results are presented from the analysis of both UV emission from the wire plasma and the discharge parameters in the initial stage of the formation of a Z-pinch discharge. It is found that, a few nanoseconds after applying voltage to a tungsten wire array, a plasma shell arises on the wire surface and the array becomes a heterogeneous system consisting of metal wire cores and a plasma surrounding each wire (a plasma corona). As a result, the current switches from the wires to the plasma. A further heating and ionization of the wire material are due primarily to heat transfer from the plasma corona. A model describing the primary breakdown along the wires is created with allowance for the presence of low-Z impurities on the wire surface.     

Distribution of leakage currents in the cylindrical and conical sections of the magnetically insulated transmission line of the Angara-5-1 facility in experiments with wire arrays

Current leakages in the magnetically insulated transmission lines (MITL) impose restrictions on the transmission of electromagnetic pulses to the load in high-power electrophysical facilities. The multimodule Angara-5-1 facility with an output electric power of up to 6 TW is considered. In this work, the experimental and calculated profiles of leakage currents in two sections of the line are compared when the eight-module facility is loaded by a wire array. The azimuthal distribution of the current in the cylindrical section of the MITL is also considered.     

Compression dynamics of quasi-spherical wire arrays with different linear mass profiles

Results of experimental studies of the implosion of quasi-spherical wire (or metalized fiber) arrays are presented. The goal of the experiments was to achieve synchronous three-dimensional compression of the plasma produced in different regions of a quasi-spherical array into its geometrical center. To search for optimal synchronization conditions, quasi-spherical arrays with different initial profiles of the linear mass were used. The following dependences of the linear mass on the poloidal angle were used: m _l (θ) ∝ sin^–1θ and m _l (θ) ∝ sin^–2θ. The compression dynamics of such arrays was compared with that of quasi-spherical arrays without linear mass profiling, m _l (θ) = const. To verify the experimental data, the spatiotemporal dynamics of plasma compression in quasi-spherical arrays was studied using various diagnostics. The experiments on three-dimensional implosion of quasi-spherical arrays made it possible to study how the frozen-in magnetic field of the discharge current penetrates into the array. By measuring the magnetic field in the plasma of a quasi-spherical array, information is obtained on the processes of plasma production and formation of plasma flows from the wire/fiber regions with and without an additionally deposited mass. It is found that penetration of the magnetic flux depends on the initial linear mass profile m _l (θ) of the quasi-spherical array. From space-resolved spectral measurements and frame imaging of plasma X-ray emission, information is obtained on the dimensions and shape of the X-ray source formed during the implosion of a quasi-spherical array. The intensity of this source is estimated and compared with that of the Z-pinch formed during the implosion of a cylindrical array.