RADIATION EMISSION CHARACTERISTICS FROM A SPHERICAL PINCH HIGH-Z PLASMA - A NUMERICAL STUDY

The spherical pinch is an inertial confinement fusion (ICF) system mod ified by the inclusion of a preformed plasma in the center of a spheri cal vessel. The central plasma acts as a target for the imploding shoc k waves of the ICF. Upon compression by these shock waves, the central plasma attains temperatures higher and containment times longer than the ICF, thus facilitating the objective effusion. The curr ent study examined the spherical pinch as a source of useful radiation for appli cations that can go from testing mirrors for space exploration to the microscopy of biological specimens, paper radiography, and microlithog raphy. This study was a continuation of previous work in which the rad iation emission characteristics of the spherical pinch are theoretical ly studied. It included a detailed numerical simulation of the spheric al pinch model as a radiation emitter in terms of density, pressure, t emperature, and bremsstrahlung emission in the whole spectrum and in t he soft X-ray region. A better understanding of the radiation producti on mechanism was thus gained from the current numerical study. Some in dications on the usefulness of the concept for industrial applications are provided.