Laboratory plasma physics experiments using merging supersonic plasma jets

Abstract

We describe a laboratory plasma physics experiment at Los Alamos National Laboratory that uses two merging supersonic plasma jets formed and launched by pulsed-power-driven rail guns. The jets can be formed using any atomic species or mixture available in a compressed-gas bottle and have the following nominal initial parameters at the railgun nozzle exit: $n_e\approx n_i \sim 10^{16}$ cm$^{-3}$, $T_e \approx T_i \approx 1.4$ eV, $V_{\rm jet}\approx 30$-100 km/s, mean charge $\bar{Z}\approx 1$, sonic Mach number $M_s\equiv V_{\rm jet}/C_s>10$, jet diameter $=5$ cm, and jet length $\approx 20$ cm. Experiments to date have focused on the study of merging-jet dynamics and the shocks that form as a result of the interaction, in both collisional and collisionless regimes with respect to the inter-jet classical ion mean free path, and with and without an applied magnetic field. However, many other studies are also possible, as discussed in this paper.