The plasma focus as a pulsed power source

The plasma focus is a remarkable natural phenomenon that achieves significant space-time compression of both particle and field energy. Depending on the mode of operation, about 20% of the bank energy can be concentrated into the kinetic energy of a thin, dense, cylindrically convergent gas shell, or into a small-diameter, high-ν/γ relativistic electron burst and oppositely directed ion burst. The kinetic energy of the fast ions and electrons can exceed the applied voltage by a factor of greater than 100. The different modes of energy concentration by the plasma focus are presented and discussed both in terms of their role in the direct yield of the focus and for the case of a plasma focus supplemented by various fusionable targets.