Annular Gas Jet Anode for Decade

Alameda Applied Sciences Corporation (AASC) proposes to replace the current return rods in the anode of the plasma radiation source (PRS) load, with an annular, supersonic gas jet: an innovation that could drastically reduce source region debris along the line-of-sight (LOS) of the test object, in a z-pinch, soft x-ray, weapons effects simulator, and make the debris mitigation system (DMS) simpler and smaller. The dense anode gas jet can serve to stop some particulate debris and deflect others out of the line of sight to the test object. The gas jet might also eliminate the need for a Li UV filter and thereby allow the test object to be located closer to the PRS. This would significantly increase the useful fluence delivered, by a factor of 2-4 over what is presently available. In Phase I, the objective is to design, build and test the anode gas jet. In parallel, we will perform analyses and use 1-D hydro. simulations to evaluate the advantages of using a gas jet UV filter vs. the present Li foil filters.