Resolving Microstructures in Z Pinches with Intensity Interferometry

Nearly 60 years ago, Hanbury Brown and Twiss\footnote{R. Hanbury Brown and R. Twiss, Nature \underline {178}, 1046 (1956).} succeeded in measuring the 30 nanoradian angular diameter of Sirius using a new type of interferometry that exploited the interference of different photons emitted from opposite sides of the stellar disk. Its basis was the measurement of intensity correlations as a function of detector spacing, with no beam splitting or direct collection of phase information needed. Applied to Z pinches, X pinches, or laser-produced plasmas, this method could potentially yield spatial resolution well under one micron, using photon energies ranging from visible to x-ray. We consider the advantages, disadvantages, and possible complications in applying intensity interferometry to the pinch environment. Preliminary experimental designs are considered.