Soft x-ray emission in the neon gas puff plasma focus

Correlation between soft x-ray emission and dynamic plasma behavior is disc ussed for a plasma focus device with injected neon. Intense H-like and He-l ike lines from neon are radiated during an interval when the plasma appears from a visible-light streak camera to be stable. However, data from a mult iframing soft x-ray camera indicate the growth of m=0 macroscopic instabili ties during this period. The peak of the soft x-ray signal coincides with t he micropinch generated in the plasma column, and the emission ends simulta neously with the extinction of the visible light. The electron temperature and density, which are obtained from spectroscopic analysis, are similar to 0.5 keV and similar to 10(22) cm(-3), respectively. (C) 1999 American Inst itute of Physics. [S1070-664X(99)01912-6].