Characteristics of Al:Mg alloy wire array Z-pinches on the Z generator

Summary form only given. The characteristics of 95% Al:5% Mg alloy wire-array z-pinches formed by the Z generator and their associated X-ray emission are discussed. The arrays consisted of 180 to 266 wires, with each wire being 20-mm long and mounted at radii of 15, 20, or 25 mm. The implosion time of the loads explored was maintained at /spl sim/106 ns (the time which maximized the energy coupling of the generator to the load) by keeping M*R*R constant. M is the array mass that decreased from 7.1 to 4.2 to 2.6 Mg as the radius r was increased.