Browsing by Author "Favre Dominguez, Mario Benjamin"

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    Observations of Ablation Dynamics in Wire-Array Z-Pinch Experiments on the Llampüdkeñ Generator
    (2012) Veloso Espinosa, Felipe; Suzuki Vidal, Francisco Andres; Molina, Francisco; Mitchell, Ian H.; Chuaqui Kettlun, Hernán; Favre Dominguez, Mario Benjamin; Wyndham Hodder, Edmund Sydenham
    Wire-array Z-pinch experiments have been performed on the Llampüdkeñ generator (~470 kA in ~410 ns) [Chuaqui et al., Laser Part. Beams 15, 241 (1997)] using an overmassed load of aluminum wires. Time-resolved optical laser schlieren and extreme ultraviolet imaging were used in order to study the plasma ablation dynamics. The results show the formation and subsequent ablation of plasma from the wires, followed by the appearance of a precursor plasma column on the axis. According to these results and to the rocket model of wire ablation, an ablation velocity of (1.7-2.6) × 105 m/s is estimated, which is larger than those obtained in faster generators. Additionally, the main resemblances and differences with previous experiments are presented, allowing in this way to open the study of this configuration in smaller scale machines.
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    X-ray and plasma dynamics of an intermediate size capillary discharge
    (2002) Wyndham Hodder, Edmund Sydenham; Aliaga Rossel, Raul; Chuaqui Kettlun, Hernán; Favre Dominguez, Mario Benjamin; Mitchell, Ian H.; Choi, Peter
    A small pulsed power generator, 150 kA and 120 ns, is used to form a plasma in a 5-mm diameter alumina ceramic tube. A hollow cathode geometry is used and a preionized plasma is formed in an initial vacuum background by focussing a pulsed Nd:YAG laser onto a metallic target in the hollow cathode volume. The evolution of the preionizing plasma and its expansion into the main discharge volume may be assisted by applying a current of order Amps for a variable time before the main discharge current is applied. Strong electron beams are observed both during the preionizing stage and during the start of the main current. The plasma species and temporal evolution during the main discharge is observed using X-ray spectroscopy and X-ray pinhole imaging. On varying the rate of rise of the current in the pinching phase, the transient hollow cathode effect was found to be significant at early times in the discharge in the case of the lower value of dI/dt. Both the pinch temperature and diameter depend on varying the dI/dt from 1.5 to 3 /spl times/ 10/sup 12/ A/s. The implications of plasma injection for metal vapor capillary discharges are discussed.