Titanium K-shell x-ray production from high velocity wire array implosionson the 20-MA Z accelerator

The advent of the 20-MA Z accelerator [R. B. Spielman, C. Deeney, G. A. Cha ndler et al., Phys. Plasmas 5, 2105 (1997)] has enabled implosions of large diameter, high-wire-number arrays of titanium to begin testing Z pinch K-s hell scaling theories. The 2 cm long titanium arrays, which were mounted on a 40 mm diameter, produced between 75+/-15 to 125+/-20 kJ of K-shell x ray s. A mass scan indicates that, as predicted, higher velocity implosions in the series produced higher x-ray yields. Spectroscopic analyses indicate th at these high velocity implosions achieved peak electron temperatures from 2.7+/-0.1 to 3.2+/-0.2 keV and obtained a K-shell emission mass participati on of up to 12%. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S1070-664X(99)971 05-7].