72-pixel, diamond soft X-ray camera

Summary form only given. This paper describes a camera that can provide 200 ps snap shots of the evolution of Z-pinch radiation, in the soft X-ray and vacuum ultraviolet, with spatial resolution <0.5 mm (with 2:1 magnification). The camera uses a 12/spl times/6 array of diamond detectors with 1 mm/spl times/1 mm pixels with 85% total open area. This detector has been fabricated and the absolute sensitivity of all the pixels has been determined on the laser plasma source at Sandia National Laboratory (courtesy R.B. Spielman, SNL). The camera was subsequently used to image the X-ray and VUV emissions from Ar long implosions on Double-EAGLE, capturing 400 ps snap shots of a Z-pinch. These images show the limitations of existing instruments used to image Z-pinch emissions. They also show evidence of "spike" and "bubble" formation in the pinch.