Phase Contrast Imaging and Radiometry for Power Balance Studies of Magnetized Pinches

The behavior at stagnation of magnetized pinch plasmas, including gas puff Z-pinches, is thought to be strongly influenced by the partition of energy during the early time implosion phase. In particular, the partition of energy in thermal, magnetic field, radiation, and turbulent kinetic energy channels may be of direct consequence to plasma performance at stagnation – e.g. in fusion and X-ray source applications. In order to further elucidate early time energy partition, a set of millimeter wave (mmW) and infrared (IR) radiometers have been fielded both on gas puff plasmas on the 1 MA COBRA generator at Cornell University, as well as on X-pinch plasmas on the ~ 100 kA LoboLTD generator at the University of New Mexico (UNM). Additionally, a Phase Contrast Imaging (PCI) system to characterize the k-spectrum of turbulent density fluctuations on COBRA is in development. The design of the PCI and radiometer systems, their calibration, and initial experimental results will be discussed