Fig. 1. (a) Configuration of the load zone in the vacuum chamber. (b) Directions of side-on laser probing on the chamber. Solid arrows show regular probing directions, and dotted arrows show probing directions for investigation of pinch asymmetry. (c) End-on laser probing in the vacuum chamber.

Fig. 2. (a, b) Implosion bubbles in an Al 8-wire cylindrical array taken 22 and 15 ns before the beginning of the x-ray pulse. (c, d) Sketch of implosions in cylindrical and star wire arrays. (e) Schlieren image of nonimploded material in an Al cylindrical 4-wire array 12 ns after the maximum of the x-ray pulse. (f, g) Shadowgrams of a W cylindrical 16-wire array 3 mm in diameter: (f) 1.5 ns before and (g) 8 ns after the maximum of the x-ray pulse.

Fig. 3. (a, b) Cascade implosion in an Al 3-ray 12-wire star array. (c, d) Formation of an imploding plasma column on one ray of the 3-ray star array taken in another shot.

Fig. 4. Shadowgrams of implosion in a 3-ray 12-wire star array with long stainless steel wires in the inner circle. Shadowgrams are taken at the same time at (a) 532 nm and (b) 266 nm. The positions of the wires in shadowgrams are shown in the inset in (b).

Fig. 5. (a) Currents in the inner cylinders of 3-ray star arrays of diameters 16, 12, and 5 mm as functions of gate width. The curve represents the results of calculations for stars with different gate widths and a regular wire length. The square represents the current in a star with single wires instead of gates. The circles represent stars with long gate wires. The diameters of the plasma columns of the inner wires are 0.4 mm (light circles and the curve) and 0.2 mm (dark circles). (b) Map of the magnetic field in the star array.

Fig. 6. (a, b) Two-frame shadowgram of implosion in a 12 mm linear array with increased central gap. The shadowgrams were taken 20 and 13 ns before the beginning of the x-ray pulse. The arrows show the axis of the array. (c) X-ray pinhole images with timing.

Fig. 7. UV end-on (a) shadowgram and (b) interferogram of the precursor in an Al 8-wire cylindrical array in the implosion stage. (c) Side-on shadowgram of the precursor taken in this shot at the same time. The dashed lines represent two wires in the field of view. (d) Ratio of normalized shadowgram and depolarized image in the peripheral area around the Z-pinch taken from another shot.

Fig. 8. Shadowgrams of 16-wire, 8-mm-diameter cylindrical Z-pinches, showing the central stagnation column recorded at wavelengths of (a, b) 532 nm and (c) 266 nm. Images are taken (a, c) 11 ns and (b) 35 ns after the maximum of the x-ray pulse. The dots in (a) and (c) show points of spatial co-alignment.

Fig. 9. (a, b) Shadowgram of the Z-pinch in an Al 3-ray star array taken with enhanced intensity through a slit at the maximum of the x-ray pulse. (b, c) Magnified images from this shadowgram.

Fig. 10. (a, b) Two-frame UV shadowgram of a 2-mm-diameter, 8-wire array. The frames are 3 ns long with 5 ns between frames. (c) Shadowgram at 532 nm taken at 22.5° to images (a) and (b) and timed to image (a). The shadowgrams (a) and (c) were taken at the maximum of the x-ray pulse. (d) Optical streak camera image showing emission through stagnation. (e) X-ray images from a time-gated pinhole camera. (f) Timing diagram with current (red line), x-ray pulse (black), UV frames (arrows), and x-ray frames (strips).

Fig. 11. Shadowgrams of a Z-pinch in an Al planar 10-wire array taken from different angles 4 ns after the maximum of the x-ray pulse.

Fig. 12. (a) Images from an x-ray streak camera and (b) UV shadowgram recorded in a shot with an Al 8-wire cylindrical array 3 mm in diameter. The vertical arrow in (a) shows the temporal position of (b).

Fig. 13. (a) UV shadowgram and (b) complementary Faraday image taken in a shot with an Al 8-wire cylindrical array, 8 mm in diameter, at the maximum of the x-ray pulse.

Fig. 14. (a) UV shadowgram, (b) Faraday image, and (c) interferogram taken in a shot with an Al 8-wire cylindrical array, 8 mm in diameter, at the maximum of the x-ray pulse.

Fig. 15. (a) Faraday rotation angle (squares) and plasma electron density (diamonds). (b) Reconstructed magnetic field (solid curve), magnetic field of current flowing in the 0.2 mm neck only (dashed curves), a B-field calculated for a constant current density (dashed-dotted curve), and with enhanced current density in the neck (dotted curve).