A small neon gas-puff z-pinch device was constructed, and the plasma implosion and its radiation characteristics were studied experimentally. The plasma implosion was investigated using a three-frame Mach-Zehnder interferometer (TFMZI) that is capable of taking three pictures (5ns exposure and 13ns interpicture delay) within a single z-pinch shot. Thermopiles were also used in the experiments with the TFMZI to study the correlation between the total energy of x-ray emission and the plasma implosion. The ion beams from the z-pinch plasma were analysed using a compact Thomson spectrometer. Based on the experiments, the imploding velocity and electron density of the plasma shell were obtained, a conclusion that a nearly uniform and symmetric imploding plasma shell would emit a higher x-ray yield than an asymmetric one was drawn and the charge state resolved energy spectra of ion beams emitted from the z-pinch plasma were plotted.