Investigation of the dynamics of radiative micropinch discharges

The dynamics of plasma cylinder compression by current pulses with a rise time of ∼100 nsec in the Z-pinch geometry has been considered. The numerical simulation has been performed in the approximation of one-dimensional magnetic radiation gas dynamics. In the calculations, real thermodynamic, transport, and optical properties of the plasma have been used. The radiation transfer is described in the multigroup approximation by the photon energy. The calculations have been performed for a pinch in xenon (radius ∼0.5 cm, energy E0 = 10–30 J, maximum current ∼30 kA). A detailed pattern of the dynamics of pinches has been investigated and the energy-to-radiation conversion efficiency has been determined.