Results from recent argon-gas-puff experiments at ∼ 6 MA

Experiments employing a 12-cm-diameter, triple-shell, argon gas puff were previously carried out in 2006 on the Saturn generator at Sandia National Laboratories. Employing the same gas puff design, a second experimental campaign was conducted in 2007. In this presentation, analyses of the data from the 2007 experiment and a comparison to the 2006 results are presented. The goal of this work is to gain understanding to both maximize the K-shell yield from medium- to high-atomic-number z pinches (photon energies of 1-8 keV) and to develop z-pinch-based concepts for sources of higher photon energy (8-40 keV). Large initial-diameter implosions are needed to achieve these goals. The expected deleterious effects on final pinch formation associated with the increase in the Rayleigh-Taylor instability growth at larger diameter can be mitigated by using an initial mass profile that is strongly peaked on axis. The properties of the K-shell emitting region such as its axial and radial extent, electron temperature, ion density, and average charge state are determined from time integrated spectra and time-resolved continuum emission. Power flow will also be discussed.