High-Temperature Plasmas Produced by Exploding Wires

Abstract

The time-of-flight technique for the analysis of transient plasmas discussed at the previous Exploding Wire Conference by Zinke, Owen, and Manka has been perfected to include a flow velocity, and the “containment time” is now interpreted as a “plasma release time.” Plasmas have been generated from gold wires which have temperatures of 2 × 10⁶°K, densities of 10¹⁸ cm⁻³, and flow velocities of about 3 × 10⁶ cm/sec. The critically damped discharge current is “slow” by Bennett’s criterion, and analyses of the current, voltage, and light data indicate heating by a collapsing pinch effect at the current maximum of a plasma produced through gaseous breakdown in vapor generated by Bennett’s expansion wave. The plasma is apparently stabilized from electromagnetic ejection by a liquid core. Flow velocities do not seem to be electromagnetic in origin. Wedemeyer’s objections to the time-of-flight technique will be discussed.

Work supported by the Southwestern Electric Power Company and the National Science Foundation.