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Effect of the axial magnetic field on a metallic gas-puff pinch implosion

Journal Article · · Physics of Plasmas
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4953048· OSTI ID:22600143
; ; ; ;  [1];  [1];  [2]
  1. Institute of High Current Electronics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Tomsk 634055 (Russian Federation)
  2. Plasma Physics Division, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C. 20375 (United States)
The effect of an axial magnetic field B{sub z} on an imploding metallic gas-puff Z-pinch was studied using 2D time-gated visible self-emission imaging. Experiments were performed on the IMRI-5 generator (450 kA, 450 ns). The ambient field B{sub z} was varied from 0.15 to 1.35 T. It was found that the initial density profile of a metallic gas-puff Z-pinch can be approximated by a power law. Time-gated images showed that the magneto-Rayleigh–Taylor instabilities were suppressed during the run-in phase both without axial magnetic field and with axial magnetic field. Helical instability structures were detected during the stagnation phase for B{sub z} < 1.1 T. For B{sub z} = 1.35 T, the pinch plasma boundary was observed to be stable in both run-in and stagnation phases. When a magnetic field of 0.3 T was applied to the pinch, the soft x-ray energy was about twice that generated without axial magnetic field, mostly due to longer dwell time at stagnation.
OSTI ID:
22600143
Journal Information:
Physics of Plasmas, Journal Name: Physics of Plasmas Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 23; ISSN PHPAEN; ISSN 1070-664X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English