Azimuthal magnetic field measurements obtained during the implosion phase of an oxygen gas-puff Z-pinch on a 500 kA peak current and 180 ns rise time linear transformer driver are presented. While a fraction of the driver current was measured within the imploding plasma, key initial conditions were found to significantly impact the delivery of current to the plasma load. The electrode geometry was modified to assist the initial dielectric breakdown and resulted in improved shot reproducibility. Optimization of the gas injection plenum pressure and timing resulted in an increase in the current coupling parameter, defined as the ratio of the measured value of to the expected value, from 50% to 75%. The degree of radial expansion of the gas puff in the load region, which is suspected to lead to the observed current loss during the implosion, was reduced by shortening the valve opening duration. Additionally, a pre-embedded axial magnetic field of up to 0.2 T was found to have no significant impact on the plasma-current coupling of the oxygen implosions.
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June 2023
Research Article|
June 08 2023
Role of initial conditions in plasma-current coupling of gas-puff Z-pinches
N. Aybar
;
(Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing)
Center for Energy Research and Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California San Diego
, La Jolla, California 92093, USA
a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: [email protected]
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F. Conti
;
F. Conti
c)
(Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Supervision, Writing – review & editing)
Center for Energy Research and Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California San Diego
, La Jolla, California 92093, USA
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J. Narkis
;
J. Narkis
b)
(Software, Writing – review & editing)
Center for Energy Research and Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California San Diego
, La Jolla, California 92093, USA
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F. N. Beg
F. N. Beg
(Funding acquisition, Supervision, Writing – review & editing)
Center for Energy Research and Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California San Diego
, La Jolla, California 92093, USA
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a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: [email protected]
b)
Present address: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550, USA.
c)
Present address: General Atomics, San Diego, California 92121, USA.
Phys. Plasmas 30, 062706 (2023)
Article history
Received:
February 14 2023
Accepted:
May 15 2023
Citation
N. Aybar, F. Conti, J. Narkis, F. N. Beg; Role of initial conditions in plasma-current coupling of gas-puff Z-pinches. Phys. Plasmas 1 June 2023; 30 (6): 062706. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0146565
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