Updates on the X-Pinch Platform and Faraday Rotation Imaging Diagnostic on the Maize Pulsed Power Facility

X-pinches, formed by driving intense current through the crossing of 2 or more wires, provide an excellent platform for the study of "micro-pinches" due to their propensity to generate a single micro-pinch at a predetermined location in space (i.e., where the wires cross) [1] , [2] . Ideal...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Dowhan, George V., Shah, Akash P., Jordan, Nicholas M., McBride, Ryan D., Bland, Simon N., Lebedev, Sergey V., Smith, Roland A., Suttle, Lee, Pikuz, Sergei A.
Format: Conference Proceeding
Language:English
Subjects:
Conferences
Current distribution
Faraday effect
Hardware
Imaging
Plasmas
Wires
Online Access:Request full text
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Summary:X-pinches, formed by driving intense current through the crossing of 2 or more wires, provide an excellent platform for the study of "micro-pinches" due to their propensity to generate a single micro-pinch at a predetermined location in space (i.e., where the wires cross) [1] , [2] . Ideally, micropinches are areas of run-away compression to very small radii (~1 µm) leading to pressures on the order of ~1 Gbar for currents on the order of ~0.1 MA. However, the fraction of the total current that is driven through the dense micro-pinch plasma at small radii versus that being shunted through the surrounding coronal plasma at larger radii is not well known. To allow for the study of micro-pinches and their current distribution on the 1-MA MAIZE facility, a Faraday rotation imaging diagnostic (1064 nm) [3] , as well as a corresponding modular X-pinch load hardware, were developed. Presented is the status of these developments including preliminary experimental results characterizing X-pinches on the MAIZE LTD.
ISSN:2576-7208
DOI:10.1109/ICOPS36761.2021.9588619