Characteristics of a molybdenum X-pinch X-ray source as a probe source for X-ray diffraction studies

X-ray emission from a molybdenum X-pinch has been investigated as a potential probe for the high pressure states made in dynamic compression experiments. Studies were performed on a novel 300 kA, 400 ns generator which coupled the load directly to a low inductance capacitor and switch combination. The X-pinch load consisted of 4 crossed molybdenum wires of 13 mu m diameter, crossed at an angle of 62 degrees. The load height was 10 mm. An initial x-ray burst generated at the wire crossing point, radiated in the soft x-ray range (h nu < 10 keV). This was followed, 2-5 ns later, by at least one harder x-ray burst (h nu > 10 keV) whose power ranged from 1 to 7 MW. Time integrated spectral measurements showed that the harder bursts were dominated by K-alpha emission; though, a lower level, wide band continuum up to at least 30 keV was also present. Initial tests demonstrated that the source was capable of driving Laue diffraction experiments, probing uncompressed samples of LiF and aluminium. (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.