Time-resolved electron temperature measurement in a multiwire Z-pinch plasma

Abstract

A simplified technique to measure the plasma temperature in multiwire Z-pinch experiments is reported. X-ray PIN, diodes fitted with different transmission filters, were employed to detect the X-radiation in different energy bands. The comparison of the relative intensities in each band gives a time-resolved measurement of the electronic temperature. The method consists in applying a simple model of the continuum spectrum that is convoluted with the filter-detector response to obtain predicted amplitude ratios. The computed ratios are then compared to the experimental ones to obtain the time-resolved temperature. When the method was applied to experiments carried out with 1-4 wire bundles, the temperature was found to be in the interval 1 to 7~keV.