RADIATIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF PULSED-POWER DRIVEN Z-PINCH ALUMINUM PLASMAS

In this paper, we study the dynamics of a massive aluminum Z-pinch pla sma load and evaluate its performance as a soft X-ray radiator. A radi ation hydrodynamic model self-consistently driven by a circuit describ es the dynamics, Comparisons are made for the K- and L-shell soft X-ra y emission as a function of the ionization dynamic model. The ionizati on dynamic models are represented by: 1) a time-dependent nonequilibri um (NEQ) model, 2) a collisional radiative equilibrium (CRE) model, an d 3) a local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) model. For all three scen arios the radiation is treated 1) in the free streaming optically thin approximation where the plasma is treated as a volume emitter and 2) in the optically thick regime where the opacity for the lines and cont inuum is self-consistently calculated online and the radiation is tran sported through the plasma. Each simulation is carried out independent ly to determine the sensitivity of the implosion dynamics to the ioniz ation and radiation model, i.e., how the ionization dynamic model affe cts the radiative yield and emission spectra, Results are presented fo r the L- and K-shell radiation yields and emission spectra as a functi on of photon energy from 10 eV to 10 keV, Also, departure coefficients from LTE are presented for selected levels and ionization stages.