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Discharge formation in the A–K space of transient hollow cathode discharge (THCD) is causally linked with the emission of high energy electron beams originating in the hollow cathode region (HCR). Ionization in the A–K gap proceeds through the formation of a moving virtual anode, whose time evolution is strongly correlated with different periods in the electron beam activity. Here, we report on time and space resolved observations of different ionization events inside the HCR, which are time correlated with ionization processes inside the A–K gap. The experiments have been performed in Hydrogen, at pressures between 50 and 400 mTorr. A statistical study of the characteristic times associated with the different ionization events, based on von Laue plots, shows that the time distribution of events is well described by a single Gaussian distribution.

Experimental studies on a fast pulsed capillary discharge are presented. The discharge operates in a 0.8 mm inner diameter capillary, at 12 kV applied voltage. On axis discharge initiation is achieved by means of the hollow cathode effect. A short, less than 10 ns, XUV pulse is produced. Preliminary time resolved spectroscopic studies indicate that a hot, fast evolving short duration capillary plasma is produced.

We report on experimental observations in PFP-I, a small 3.8 kJ plasma focus, which is operated in Hydrogen-Argon mixtures to investigate the effect of parameter modifications on the overall performance of the device. An extensive array of diagnostics is been used, which includes voltage and current probes in the external circuit, a novel small magnetic probes array located along the cathode rods, filtered PIN diodes located side and end on, and filtered multi-pinhole and slit-wire X-ray camera. Extended operating range from below 0.2 Torr upwards has been achieved. Hot spot formation has been investigated as a function of H2-Ar mixing ratio. Hot spot sizes around 150 μm in the soft X-ray region, have been inferred from the slit-wire measurements. Pin-hole time integrated X-ray pictures and time resolved PIN diode measurements have been used to determine characteristic hot-spot temperatures in the 350 to 450 eV range.