Measurement of the Ionization State and Electron Temperature of Plasma during the Ablation Stage of a Wire-Array Z Pinch Using Absorption Spectroscopy

• Published in: Physical review letters Vol. 106; no. 22
• Main Authors: Ivanov, V. V., Hakel, P., Mancini, R. C., Anderson, A., Durmaz, T., Wiewior, P., Papp, D., Altemara, S. D., Astanovitskiy, A. L., Chalyy, O., Chittenden, J. P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 03-06-2011
• Subjects: ABLATION; ABSORPTION SPECTRA; ABSORPTION SPECTROSCOPY; ALUMINIUM IONS; CHARGED PARTICLES; CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY; ELECTRON TEMPERATURE; ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE; ENERGY RANGE; EV RANGE; EV RANGE 10-100; FLUID MECHANICS; HYDRODYNAMICS; IONS; K SHELL; KEV RANGE; KEV RANGE 01-10; LASERS; MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICS; MECHANICS; PLASMA; SIMULATION; SPECTRA; SPECTROSCOPY; TRANSMISSION; WIRES; X-RAY SPECTROSCOPY
• ISSN: 0031-9007; 1079-7114
• DOI: 10.1103/PHYSREVLETT.106.225005

Wire-array plasmas were investigated in the nonradiative ablation stage via x-ray absorption spectroscopy. A laser-produced Sm plasma was used to backlight Al wire arrays. The Sm spectrum was simultaneously observed by two spectrometers: one recorded the unattenuated spectrum and the other the transmission spectrum with 1.45-1.55 keV K-shell absorption lines. Analysis of absorption spectra revealed electron temperature in the range of 10-30 eV and the presence of F-, O-, N- and C-like Al ions in the absorbing plasma. A comparison of this electron temperature with the postprocessed absorption spectra of a 2D MHD simulation yields results in general agreement with the data analysis.