K-shell x-ray yield scaling for aluminum x-pinch plasmas

We report results from experiments performed to measure and characterize the intense K‐shell radiation from aluminum x‐pinch plasmas at peak driving currents ranging from 280 kA to 1.0 MA. Single pulse aluminum K‐shell (predominantly line radiation at 1.6–2 keV) x‐ray yields ranged from 7.6 J at 290 kA to 240 J at 1.0 MA. In the range from 280 to 470 kA, the yield scales with current to the power of 3.6, whereas nonoptimized K‐shell yields at 800 kA and 1.0 MA indicate a power of about 3 or higher.