PLASMA TEMPERATURE-MEASUREMENTS USING A TIME AND SPATIALLY RESOLVED X-RAY-CAMERA

We have developed a diagnostic for measuring the blackbody temperature of a dense plasma produced in a high power capillary discharge. This diagnostic can be described as a filtered x-ray pinhole framing camera. The camera consists of a stripline microchannel plate and a filtered pinhole array. The camera is capable of producing two-dimensional images with time and spectral resolution. We utilize this camera to measure the temperature of a dense optically thick plasma. The imaging also enables us to determine temperature profiles and spatial effects which cannot be determined with other methods such as filtered x-ray diodes. We will present a complete description of the camera, our procedure for using it, and results from the experiment we carried out.