Spectral analyses of long-implosion-time Al:Mg alloy nested wire array implosions on the Saturn generator

Summary form only given, as follows. The advent of nested wire arrays has enabled far higher quality and high power Z-pinch implosions but questions have been raised on the exact mechanisms by which nested arrays improve the implosion dynamics. In a series of experiments on the Saturn generator, we have imploded high and low wire number nested arrays. By using either pure aluminum (Al 1100) or Al:Mg alloy (Al 5056) in the inner or outer arrays, we can perform tracer spectroscopy. Tracer spectroscopy has been an important diagnostic in laser-plasma interactions and there have been some very successful applications to Z-pinches including coated wires or doped gas puffs by Sze, et al.(2000). In these recent nested array experiments, we show that the wire number does effect the degree of mixing that occurs between the inner and outer. Analyses indicate that for low-wire number case (28 onto 14 wires) the mass of the outer forms the hot emitting region on the stagnated pinch. This is contrary to results from gas puffs. We present the comparison of the low- and high-wire number arrays.