Instabilities in laser-produced carbon plasma expanding in a nonuniform magnetic field

The laser-produced carbon plasma expanding in an ambient atmosphere in the presence of an inhomogeneous magnetic field has been studied by emission spectroscopy and fast photography. A double-peak structure is observed in the temporal profile of CII and CIII transition. A sudden increase in delay observed in the second peak when the plasma expands in the concave region of a magnetic field is attributed to Rayleigh–Taylor instability in a magnetic field. An estimate of the growth rate of the instability inferred using intensity and velocity profile of the expanding plasma is reported. Received: 26 August 1999 / Revised version: 3 January 2000 / Published online: 20 September 2000