K-shell x-ray yield scaling for aluminum x-pinch plasmas

We report results from experiments performed to measure and characterize the intense K-shell radiation from aluminum x-pinch plasmas at peak driving currents ranging from 280 kA to 1.0 MA. Single pulse aluminum K-shell (predominantly line radiation at 1.6–2 keV) x-ray yields ranged from 7.6 J at 290 kA to 240 J at 1.0 MA. In the range from 280 to 470 kA, the yield scales with current to the power of 3.6, whereas nonoptimized K-shell yields at 800 kA and 1.0 MA indicate a power of about 3 or higher.