Modifying wire-array Z-pinch ablation structure using coiled arrays

Phys Rev Lett. 2008 Feb 15;100(6):065003. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.100.065003. Epub 2008 Feb 14.

Abstract

A new wire-array configuration has been used to control the modulation of ablated plasma flow for the first time. Cylindrical aluminum coiled arrays, in which each straight wire is replaced with a single helix, were driven by a 1 MA, 240 ns current pulse. Ablated plasma is directed away from the coiled wire cores in a manner that can be understood in terms of Lorentz forces that arise from a complex current path modeled by 3D magnetohydrodynamic simulations. Outside the diameter of the helix, the flow of ablated plasma is axially modulated at the wavelength of the coil.