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Published: 1991

Total Pages: 5

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The aim of the Trailmaster series of experiments is to generate an intense source of soft x-rays by imploding a thin (2000 Å) aluminum cylinder. The present scheme incorporates a plasma flow switch for the final pulse shaping and requires careful diagnostic analysis. The emphasis of this work is to transfer the energy to the load area and to understand the dynamics of the plasma flow switch. The experiments are carried out at LANL in two facilities. Laboratory experiments that answer questions about the details of the plasma flow switch are done on the 1.5-MJ Pegasus capacitor bank. The higher energy experiments (Procyon series) utilize explosive pulsed power systems and are conducted at the Ancho Canyon firing site. It is the latter set of experiments that will eventually supply an x-ray radiation source at the megajoule level. At the present time, the emphasis of the Procyon experiments is to deliver energy from the generator to the plasma flow switch and the load area. The details of these experiments are given in other papers at this conference. In order to characterize these experiments one needs to diagnose the driver performance and the dynamics of the plasma and power flow in the plasma flow switch region. The difficulty of experiments in which high current high voltage, and high explosive are combined, leads to severe problems. Many of the diagnostics are unique and untested. Since only a limited number of experiments are done during a year, the effort is to maximize the information per shot. The aim in this report is to present some of the diagnostic techniques used in the adverse Trailmaster environment. 8 refs., 10 figs.