Simulations Of Gas Puff Z-Pinch Implosions With A Xe Dopant

Results from a pair of recent experiments 1 on Sandia National Laboratories’ Z machine have shown that the presence of a small fraction of Xe (0.8% by number in the center jet) in an Ar gas puff shot can have a significant impact on the emitted K-shell radiation. This pair consisted of shots with similar initial density profile (outer shell, inner shell, and center jet) but one with Xe dopant in the center jet. These were Z2603 (with Xe) and Z2605 (without Xe). The resultant Ar K-shell yield of the emitted K-shell radiation dramatically reduced from 373 ± 9 % to 129 ± 9 % kJ. Radiation-magnetohydrodynamic simulations of the shots using the using the Mach2-TCRE code with a tabulated collisional radiative equilibrium model will be presented. Detailed analysis of the implosion dynamics, temperature and density profiles and emitted radiation and its time- and space resolved K-shell synthetic spectra will be reported and compared with data from the spectral analysis of these two shots 2 .