Discrete helical modes in imploding and exploding cylindrical, magnetized liners

Abstract

Discrete helical modes have been experimentally observed from implosion to explosion in cylindrical, axially magnetized ultrathin foils (Bz = 0.2 – 2.0 T) using visible self-emission and laser shadowgraphy. The striation angle of the helices, ϕ, was found to increase during the implosion and decrease during the explosion, despite the large azimuthal magnetic field (>40 T). These helical striations are interpreted as discrete, non-axisymmetric eigenmodes that persist from implosion to explosion, obeying the simple relation ϕ = m/kR, where m, k, and R are the azimuthal mode number, axial wavenumber, and radius, respectively. Experimentally, we found that (a) there is only one, or at the most two, dominant unstable eigenmode, (b) there does not appear to be a sharp threshold on the axial magnetic field for the emergence of the non-axisymmetric helical modes, and (c) higher axial magnetic fields yield higher azimuthal modes.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Dec 01, 2016
Source ID
10.1063/1.4969082

Entities

People

  • Adam Steiner
  • D. A. Yager-elorriaga
  • Nicholas Jordan
  • P. C. Campbell
  • Po Zhang
  • Ronald Gilgenbach
  • Y. Y. Lau

Organizations

  • Air Force Office of Scientific Research
  • Division of Graduate Education
  • Sandia National Laboratories
  • United States Department of Energy
  • University of Michigan

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Plasma Physics / Magnetohydrodynamics
  • Pulsed Power and Plasma Physics.

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy