Investigation of corpuscular emission from the Prague Capillary Pinch

The paper presents results of preliminary measurements of the corpuscular radiation from fast z-pinch discharges, which were performed at the Prague Capillary Pinch facility within a frame of the Czech-Polish scientific collaboration programme. Time-integrated measurements were performed by means of a pinhole camera, equipped with nuclear track detectors of the CR-39 type. In order to perform time-resolved measurements the use was made of a single Faraday-type collector and a double-cup system. It was demonstrated that the fast capillary discharges can emit not only pulses of intense visible radiation and soft X-rays, but also pulses of the corpuscular radiation. An optical analysis of the particle tracks was performed. The particle flux at a distance of 20 cm from the collimator outlet was estimated to be 3.5×107 particles/cm2.