Diagnostic Suite on the Z-Pinch Initiation Facility (ZIF) for Investigation of the Frozen Fiber Z-Pinch

This article provides an overview of the diagnostic systems of the z-Pinch Initiation Facility (ZIF). The goal of these diagnostics was to investigate the initialization and early evolution of a cryogenic deuterium fiber z-pinch. The optical diagnostics consist of an eight-frame, fast-framing (FF) camera for visible self-emission imaging, a streak camera for radial or axial temporal visible self-emission profiles, and a single-frame, 532-nm laser-backlit shadowgraphy system. X-ray emission is monitored through the use of p-i-n and diamond radiation detectors (DRD). Neutron emission is measured and characterized through the combined use of a suite of bubble detectors (BDs) and neutron time-of-flight (nTOF) detectors. This article is one of the four papers written about ZIF. The other papers concentrate on the ZIF driver, the z-pinch simulations, and a summary paper on the z-pinch experimental results. An archive of all results will be made available to the public in 2026.