X-ray emission characteristics in magnetically driven plasma jet experiments on PTS facility

• Published in: Matter and radiation at extremes Vol. 5; no. 1; pp. 014401 - 014401-8
• Main Authors: Xu, Qiang, Zhou, Shaotong, Wang, Kun-lun, Zhang, Siqun, Cai, Hongchun, Ren, Xiao, Liu, Pan, Huang, Xian bin, Zhao, Li, Zou, Wenkang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: AIP Publishing LLC 15.01.2020
• ISSN: 2468-2047; 2468-080X; 2468-080X
• DOI: 10.1063/1.5120256

Jets are commonly observed astrophysical phenomena. To study the x-ray emission characteristics of jets, a series of radial foil Z-pinch experiments are carried out on the Primary Test Stand at the Institute of Fluid Physics, China Academy of Engineering Physics. In these experiments, x-ray emission ranging from the soft region (0.1–10 keV) to the hard region (10 keV–500 keV) is observed when the magnetic cavity breaks. The radiation flux of soft x-rays is measured by an x-ray diode and the dose rate of the hard x-rays by an Si-PIN detector. The experimental results indicate that the energy of the soft x-rays is several tens of kilojoules and that of the hard x-rays is ∼200 J. The radiation mechanism of the x-ray emission is briefly analyzed. This analysis indicates that the x-ray energy and the plasma kinetic energy come from the magnetic energy when the magnetic cavity breaks. The soft x-rays are thought to be produced by bremsstrahlung of thermal electrons (∼100 eV), and the hard x-rays by bremsstrahlung of super-hot electrons (∼mega-electron-volt). These results may be helpful to explain the x-ray emission by the jets from young stellar objects.