Laboratory plasma physics experiments using merging supersonic plasma jets

Abstract

We describe a laboratory plasma physics experiment at Los Alamos National Laboratory that uses two merging supersonic plasma jets formed and launched by pulsed-power-driven rail guns. The jets can be formed using any atomic species or mixture available in a compressed-gas bottle and have the following nominal initial parameters at the railgun nozzle exit: $n_e\approx n_i\sim 10^{16}$ cm${}^{-3}$, $T_e\approx T_i\approx 1.4$ eV, $V_{\mathrm{jet}}\approx 30$-100 km/s, mean charge $\bar{Z}\approx 1$, sonic Mach number $M_s\equiv V_{\mathrm{jet}}/C_s>10$, jet diameter $=5$ cm, and jet length $\approx 20$ cm. Experiments to date have focused on the study of merging-jet dynamics and the shocks that form as a result of the interaction, in both collisional and collisionless regimes with respect to the inter-jet classical ion mean free path, and with and without an applied magnetic field. However, many other studies are also possible, as discussed in this paper.

12 pages, 3 figures, 3 tables; published in J. Plasma Physics