Publications

Seeded perturbations in wire array Z-Pinches

Jones, Brent M.; Deeney, Christopher D.; Mckenney, John M.; Garasi, Christopher J.; Mehlhorn, Thomas A.; Robinson, Allen C.; Coverdale, Christine A.

Controlled seeding of perturbations is employed to study the evolution of wire array z-pinch implosion instabilities which strongly impact x-ray production when the 3D plasma stagnates on axis. Wires modulated in radius exhibit locally enhanced magnetic field and imploding bubble formation at discontinuities in wire radius due to the perturbed current path. Wires coated with localized spectroscopic dopants are used to track turbulent material flow. Experiments and MHD modeling offer insight into the behavior of z-pinch instabilities.