ENHANCED Z PINCH USING AN EXTERNALLY APPLIED MAGNETIC-FIELD TO STABILIZE THE IMPLOSION OF AN ALUMINUM PLASMA-JET ONTO A COAXIAL WIRE

We have performed Z-pinch experiments in which an aluminum plasma jet is imploded onto a coaxial, micrometer-diameter wire. X-ray pinhole images and temporally resolved x-ray data indicate that energy is initially supplied to the aluminum plasma jet, then transferred to the wire at the peak compression of the implosion. When a dc magnetic field is applied axially, growth of instabilities of the imploding aluminum plasma are reduced, and the production of x rays from the embedded wire is enhanced. These experiments demonstrate that an imploding plasma liner efficiently couples energy from a pulsed power generator into a micrometer-sized-diameter channel.