Generation of K-Shell Radiation of Noble Gases in the Microsecond Implosion Regime

Russian Physics Journal - Studies of K-shell plasma radiation sources were performed on the GIT-12 generator (4.7 MA, 1.7 μs). In the experiments, a new type of load configuration was used to...     

Peculiarities of an Electrical Explosion of Flat Conductors in the Current Skinning Mode

Russian Physics Journal - The propagation of a nonlinear magnetic-field diffusion wave generated under the condition of an electrical explosion of flat conductors is investigated in the current...     

Optical Recording of the Surface Plasma of Cylindrical Conductors in Strong Magnetic Fields

Russian Physics Journal - Results are presented of experiments on the explosion of aluminum and titanium conductors that were carried out on a multipurpose impulse generator (MIG) (current...     

The Electric Explosion of Conductors in Megagauss Magnetic Fields

The results are presented from an experimental study of the explosion of copper conductors performed at ~2 MA current pulse with a rise time of 100 ns using the MIG generator. Using a HSFC Pro optical camera, large-scale instabilities with wavelengths of 0.2–0.5 mm are recorded on the surface of the conductor. The instabilities are tongue-shaped ejections of plasma expanding at the speed of sound in the direction opposite the gradient of the magnetic field. The obtained data are analyzed using two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulation. It is shown the emergence of the observed structure was likely due to the growth of flute instabilities.     

X-pinch source of subnanosecond soft X-ray pulses based on small-sized low-inductance current generator

For the first time, the regime of a micrometer-size hot spot formation is impemented for an X-pinch in a plasma, which is fed from a current generator based on low-inductance capacitors and rapid current switches. The configurations of X-pinches, which can be used effectively as point sources of soft X-rays with this type of current generator, are determined. A prototype of a small-size radiation source for high-resolution point projection X-ray radiography has been constructed. The main parameters of X-pinch as a radiation source are analyzed and compared with X-pinch parameters in high-voltage setups with shaping lines. An analysis of the data on the operation of X-pinches in generators with different parameters has led to simple relations that can be used to select optimal initial X-pinch parameters.     

Determination of the X-pinch-based X-ray source size

It is shown that an X-ray source 0.5–2 μm in size for the spectral region above 3 keV can be implemented based on a compact pulse generator with an impedance of 0.13Ω using an X-pinch made of four molybdenum wires. The technique for determining the source sizes and the results of the experimental determination of the X-pinch emitting region sizes are presented. The parameters of the X-pinch consisting of wires of different diameters are optimized for this generator to fabricate an X-ray source of minimum sizes.     

Phase transformations of carbon under extreme energy action

Experiments are performed on a high-current MIG generator (current amplitude 2.5 MA, current rise time 100 ns) to synthesize diamond-like carbon forms. Magnetohydrodynamic calculations carried out before the experiments show that the conditions required for synthesizing diamond-like structures appear during the compression of copper tubes 2–4 mm in diameter filled with graphite. The explosion products are analyzed on an EM-125 diffraction transmission electron microscope. During an explosion, the entire graphite is found to transform into cubic carbon: crystals with the simple cubic lattice and a lattice parameter a = 0.5545 nm and with the face-centered cubic lattice and a = 0.3694 nm are detected. The crystallite size is 5–25 nm.     

Skin electric explosion in double-layer conductors with a low-conductivity deposited layer

The experiments on explosion of cylindrical conductors aimed at comparison of plasma formation during skin explosion of homogeneous and double-layer conductors with an external layer with a lower conductivity are carried out on a high-current MIG generator (current amplitude up to 2.5 MA and current rise time 100 ns). The generator is loaded with cylindrical copper conductors with a diameter of 3 mm on the cathode part of which a titanium layer of thickness 20, 50, and 80 μm is deposited in vacuum. This type of loading makes it possible to compare the behaviors of the homogeneous and double-layer conductors in identical conditions. It is shown that using the double-layer structure of the conductor with an external layer of thickness 20–80 μm with a lower conductivity, which is obtained by vacuum arc deposition, higher values of magnetic induction (as compared to homogeneous conductor) can be attained on its surface prior to plasma formation and spread.