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Two-dimensional interferometric images obtained in gas-puff z-pinch experiments on the Hawk generator are compared with snowplow calculations using the measured gas distribution for various times during the 250-ns implosion. To match the calculated implosion time with the observed implosion time, 88% to 101% of the measured cathode current, adjusted for each shot, is required to implode the snowplow. The snowplow model reproduces the (r,z) shape of the measured 2-D plasma shell at different times during the implosion. The inferred current loss between the measurement location (17-cm upstream of the nozzle) and the z-pinch may be due to vacuum flow resulting from the plasma-opening switch. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Plasma filled diode experiments have been performed at .1 to .5 TW by producing a hollow, Penning like, discharge in low pressure gas inside the A-K gap of an electron beam diode. A low impedance phase was observed whose duration could be controlled by the gas pressure and the initial plasma current. At the end of this low impedance phase, the diode voltage and impedance rise abruptly with observed switching times less than 10 ns. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]