Plasma Density Measurements within Tungsten Wire-Array Z-Pinches on the COBRA Accelerator

The COBRA pulsed-power generator, with a nominal peak current of 1.1 MA and a minimum zero-to-peak rise-time of about 100ns, is being used to study the early phases of wire-array z-pinch development with a variety of diagnostics. Here we present the results of applying point-projection x-ray radiography to make accurate, high-resolution spatial and temporal measurements of the plasma density distributions in tungsten (W) wire-array z-pinch implosions. Density measurements are quantified by comparing x-ray transmission recorded on photographic films to transmission through W calibration steps of known thicknesses. Plasma density distributions as a function of time are presented for the coronal (10$^{18}$-10$^{20}$/cm$^{3})$, ablation ($<$10$^{18}$/cm$^{3})$ and on-axis ($<$10$^{19}$/cm$^{3})$ plasmas during the pre-stagnation phases of z-pinch dynamics (70-170 ns after the start of the current pulse). With this data set the time dependence of ablation velocity and corresponding mass ablation rate are addressed.