Staged Z-pinch experiment in a small device

A simple device based in a small Z-pinch is designed, constructed and then used for evaporating and compressing a metallic exploding wire by a cylindrical plasma shell of hydrogen or argon. Time-resolved local current derivative is measured in two different points of the plasma path and the dynamic evolution of the shell, and the compression of the metallic plasma wire is studied. This study is made by varying the wire diameter and the gas filling pressure. A more effective compression is reached by using argon for the shell imploding and copper for the exploding wire stages, respectively.