Experiments with radiatively cooled supersonic plasma jets generated in conical wire array Z-pinches

We present results of astrophysically relevant experiments where highly supersonic plasma jets are generated via conically convergent plasma flows in a conical wire array Z-pinch. Stagnation of plasma flow on the axis of symmetry forms a standing conical shock effectively collimating the flow in the axial direction. This scenario is essentially similar to that discussed by Canto and collaborators [1] as a purely hydrodynamic mechanism for jet formation in astrophysical systems. Experiments using different materials (Al, Fe and W) show that a hypersonic (M ∼ 20), well-collimated jet is generated when the radiative cooling rate of the plasma is significant.