X pinch as a source for X-ray radiography

This article describes several applications and methods using the X pinch a s a source of X-ray radiation for the radiography of dense plasma objects. These methods, in general, do not use pinholes, and instead take the advant age of the small size (<1 mm, and in some cases <3 mum) and a short X-ray e mission duration (<1 ns) of the radiation source produced by an X pinch. Tw o of these methods, monochromatic and direct point-projection backlighting, are discussed. Experimental images of exploding wires and wire arrays obta ined on the BIN, XP, and MAGPIE generators using these techniques are prese nted. Also included are detailed measurements made on the XP generator of t he emission characteristics of X pinches using different wire materials.