Quantitative x-ray emission from a DPF device

The x-ray emission was measured from a Dense Plasma Focus (DPF) device. The high density plasma is generated by an electrical discharge in rarefied-neon gas between electrodes in a Mather-type plasma focus configuration. A curved-crystal x-ray spectrograph, a pinhole camera, and an active-filtered photodiode were the diagnostics viewing the axial output of the pinched-plasma region. The x-ray pinhole images indicate a pinched volume roughly 8 mm in length with a nearly circular cross section of about 300 μm in diameter. The digitized spectral traces were computer processed to obtain absolute x-ray line intensities. The neon plasma yielded 10–15 J of K-shell radiation into 4π with the hydrogenlike and heliumlike alpha lines totaling 55%–65% of the total spectral emission. The x-ray emission of the DPF device was studied as a function of discharge current and anode diameter.