High temporal resolution x-ray streak camera studies of micropinch formation in Cu hybrid $x$ pinches reveal key plasma conditions. Analysis of Ne-like Cu lines indicate an average electron temperature of about 200 eV and $4.5\times {10}^{28}{\text{m}}^{-3}$ electron density. The spectra suggest that the electron temperature jumps to about 1 keV, inferred from the continuum and the postcontinuum line emission that includes Li-like Cu lines. There is no sign of a rapid temperature change or a substantial surge in radiation emission during the 200 ps precontinuum x-ray burst, suggesting that the radiative collapse process does not play a major role in micropinch formation. Two-dimensional extended Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations, coupled to a collisional-radiative spectral analysis code, suggest the significance of the rapid radial implosion of high-temperature, low-density plasma, the axial outflow, and the dynamic plasma pressure in micropinch formation.

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• Atomic spectra
• Current drive
• High-energy-density plasmas
• High-pressure, high-current plasma production
• Magnetohydrodynamics
• Plasma discharges
• Plasma instabilities
• X-ray generation in plasmas