Radiating Shock Properties in the Z‐pinch Dynamic Hohlraum

The Z‐pinch dynamic hohlraum is a high‐power x‐ray source used for a variety of high energy‐density physics applications including high temperature opacity measurements and inertial confinement fusion (ICF). The system consists of a tungsten wire‐array Z pinch that implodes onto a low‐density CH2 foam launching a radiating shock that heats the hohlraum to radiation temperatures >200 eV. The temperature and density evolution of this shock have been inferred through the measurement of time‐ and space‐resolved line emission from Si atoms locally doped in the CH2 foam. The observed emission spectra are analyzed through comparison to collisional‐radiative calculations that include a detailed treatment of line‐shapes and the effect of non‐local radiation on the atomic level populations. As a complement to the detailed spectral data, the radial and azimuthal distribution of the axially directed shock emission is recorded with time‐gated x‐ray pinhole images that provide information on the spatial profile of the ...