为了研究喷气式Z箍缩(gas-puff Z-pinch)等离子体的内爆特性,研制了一套马赫-贞德干涉系统,并在小型喷气式Z箍缩装置(充电电压23kV,放电峰值电流210kA)上进行了试验,获得了清晰的干涉图像.根据干涉图上条纹的移动数目,计算得到该装置内爆早期等离子体的平均电子密度为10¹⁷～10¹⁸/cm³.

A Mach-Zehnder interferometer was developed for studying the plasma implosion in Z-pinch. The experiment with the interferometer was conducted on a small gas-puff Z-pinch device and clear interferograms were obtained. By counting the fringe shift on the interferograms, the average electron densities of plasma well before its final pinch were calculated to be on the order of 10¹⁷～10¹⁸cm^-3. If a beam splitter with time delay is inserted between the YAG laser and the M-Z interferometer, a multiframe interferometer could be constructed, which is capable of taking several pictures within a single shot of Z-pinch discharge.