Title :
Interaction of a Supersonic Plasma Jet With an Argon Ambient Using Laser Interferometry
Author :
Suzuki-Vidal, Francisco ; Lebedev, Sergey V. ; Swadling, George ; De Grouchy, Philip ; Bocchi, Matteo ; Burdiak, Guy ; Bland, Simon N. ; Hall, Gareth N. ; Harvey-Thompson, Adam J. ; Khoory, Essa ; Pickworth, Louisa ; Skidmore, Jonathan ; Chittenden, Jerem
Author_Institution :
Blackett Lab., Imperial Coll. London, London, UK
Abstract :
Highly supersonic radiatively cooled plasma jets are produced by introducing a 1-MA 250-ns current pulse from the MAGPIE generator into a radial foil. The setup allows for the introduction of a neutral gas above the foil, in order to study the jet-ambient interaction. The dynamics are characterized by the formation of several shock features, which are imaged using laser interferometry. This diagnostic also allows to measure the electron density of the plasma, and examples of such results are presented here.
Keywords :
argon; plasma density; plasma diagnostics; plasma jets; plasma shock waves; plasma transport processes; supersonic flow; Ar; MAGPIE generator; current 1 MA; current pulse analysis; electron density; highly supersonic radiatively cooled plasma jets; jet-ambient interaction process; laser interferometry; neutral gas analysis; plasma diagnostics; shock waves; time 250 ns; Electrodes; Generators; Laboratories; Laser beams; Laser theory; Optical interferometry; Plasmas; Astrophysics; optical interferometry; plasma diagnostics; shock waves;
Journal_Title :
Plasma Science, IEEE Transactions on
DOI :
10.1109/TPS.2011.2146283
