High-energy photon spectra from a tungsten plasma flow switch experiment

Abstract

An array of silicon diodes with appropriate K-edge filters was used to determine the high-energy (6-500 keV) photon spectra of a high-temperature tungsten plasma using a 4.6-MJ, 83-kV plasma flow switch. The detector array used ten different filter material/thickness combinations. The observed X-ray emission had a duration of >600 ns (FWHM at 350 ns), with the peak X-ray power occurring approximately 250 ns after the peak of the voltage spike. The X-ray spectra deconvolved from observed detector signals indicated a peak power of approximately 325 MW above 8 keV with a peak plasma temperature of 46 keV from an exponential fit to the spectra above 20 keV.<>