Composite pinch on GIT-4

A series of Z-pinch experiments were conducted on the GIT-4 generator to investigate the possibility of a more efficient energy transfer of electromagnetic energy to radiation. Conventional pinch schemes suffer from magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) instabilities resulting in inhomogeneities of the final compression and lower energy input efficiency. Using composite pinch, these instabilities lead to a staged efficient current transfer from the external plasma layers towards the internal radiating core. The initial parameters can be adjusted to achieve higher radiated power, easier X-ray spectrum control, and spatial and temporal homogeneity of the final collapse. A model was developed to study the characteristic regimes of this plasma device.