Nonthermal infra-red radiation from exploding wire plasmas

Measurements have been made of the infra-red emission from 0.6 to 30 mu m of exploding wire (CH 2 , Cu, W) plasmas produced by Gamble II generator. These measurements show that most of the plasma radiates as a blackbody in the infra-red region of the spectrum with the addition of intense narrow band radiation near omega pe ( lambda =10 mu m). Particularly, intense nonthermal emission correlates with intense pinch formation, while less intense nonthermal emission correlates with the presence of electron beam-target X-radiation from the wire plasmas. As the initial wire size or atomic number of the wire is reduced, the intensity of the nonthermal emission increases.