Investigation on the Plasma-Induced Emission Properties of Large Area Carbon Nanotube Array Cathodes with Different Morphologies

Large area well-aligned carbon nanotube (CNT) arrays with different morphologies were synthesized by using a chemical vapor deposition. The plasma-induced emission properties of CNT array cathodes with different morphologies were investigated. The ratio of CNT height to CNT-to-CNT distance has considerable effects on their plasma-induced emission properties. As the ratio increases, emission currents of CNT array cathodes decrease due to screening effects. Under the pulse electric field of about 6 V/μm, high-intensity electron beams of 170–180 A/cm2 were emitted from the surface plasma. The production mechanism of the high-intensity electron beams emitted from the CNT arrays was plasma-induced emission. Moreover, the distribution of the electron beams was in situ characterized by the light emission from the surface plasma

Quasi-isentropic compression using compressed water flow generated by underwater electrical explosion of a wire array

A major experimental research area in material equation-of-state today involves the use of off-Hugoniot measurements rather than shock experiments that give only Hugoniot data. There is a wide range of applications using quasi-isentropic compression of matter including the direct measurement of the complete isentrope of materials in a single experiment and minimizing the heating of flyer plates for high-velocity shock measurements. We propose a novel approach to generating quasi-isentropic compression of matter. Using analytical modeling and hydrodynamic simulations, we show that a working fluid composed of compressed water, generated by an underwater electrical explosion of a planar wire array, might be used to efficiently drive the quasi-isentropic compression of a copper target to pressures ∼2 × 10 11 Pa without any complex target designs

Multi frame synchrotron radiography of pulsed power driven underwater single wire explosions

We present the first use of synchrotron-based phase contrast radiography to study pulsed-power driven high energy density physics experiments. Underwater electrical wire explosions have become of interest to the wider physics community due to their ability to study material properties at extreme conditions and efficiently couple stored electrical energy into intense shock waves in water. The latter can be shaped to provide convergent implosions, resulting in very high pressures (1-10 Mbar) produced on relatively small pulsed power facilities (100s of kA-MA). Multiple experiments have explored single-wire explosions in water, hoping to understand the underlying physics and better optimize this energy transfer process; however, diagnostics can be limited. Optical imaging diagnostics are usually obscured by the shock wave itself; and until now, diode-based X-ray radiography has been of relatively low resolution and rather a broad x-ray energy spectrum. Utilising phase contrast imaging capabilities of the ID19 beamline at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, we were able to image both the exploding wire and the shock wave. Probing radiation of 20-50 keV radiographed 200 μm tungsten and copper wires, in ∼2-cm diameter water cylinders with resolutions of 8 μm and 32 μm. The wires were exploded by a ∼30-kA, 500-ns compact pulser, and 128 radiographs, each with a 100-ps X-ray pulse exposure, spaced at 704 ns apart were taken in each experiment. Abel inversion was used to obtain the density profile of the wires, and the results are compared to two dimensional hydrodynamic and one dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulations

Use of synchrotron-based radiography to diagnose pulsed power driven wire explosion experiments

We describe the first use of synchrotron radiation to probe pulsed power driven high energy density physics experiments. Multi-frame x-ray radiography with interframe spacing of 704 ns and temporal resolution of <100 ps was used to diagnose the electrical explosion of different wire configurations in water including single copper and tungsten wires, parallel copper wire pairs, and copper x-pinches. Such experiments are of great interest to a variety of areas including equation of state studies and high pressure materials research, but the optical diagnostics that are usually employed in these experiments are unable to probe the areas behind the shock wave generated in the water, as well as the internal structure of the exploding material. The x-ray radiography presented here, performed at beamline ID19 at European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), was able to image both sides of the shock to a resolution of up to 8 μm, and phase contrast imaging allowed fine details of the wire structure during the current driven explosion and the shock waves to be clearly observed. These results demonstrate the feasibility of pulsed power operated in conjunction with synchrotron facilities, as well as an effective technique in the study of shock waves and wire explosion dynamics

Synchrotron based X-ray radiography of convergent shock waves driven by underwater electrical explosion of a cylindrical wire array

We present X-ray radiography images showing the propagation of shock waves generated by electrical explosion of a cylindrical arrangement of wires in water driven by pulsed power. In previous experiments [S. N. Bland et al., Phys. Plasmas 24, 082702 (2017)], the merger of shock waves from adjacent wires has produced a highly symmetrical, cylindrical shock wave converging on the axis, where it is expected to produce a high density, strongly coupled plasma ideal for warm dense matter research. However, diagnostic limitations have meant that much of the dynamics of the system has been inferred from the position of the front of the cylindrical shock and timing/spectra of light emitted from the axis. Here, we present a synchrotron-based radiography of such experiments—providing direct quantitative measurements on the formation of the convergent shock wave, the increased density of water on the axis caused by its arrival, and its “bounce” after arrival on the axis. The obtained images are compared with two-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations, which reproduce the observed dynamics with a satisfactory agreement in density values

X-ray radiography of the overheating instability in underwater electrical explosions of wires

We present the measurements of the development of striation like instabilities during the electrical driven explosions of wires in a waterbath. In vacuum based wire explosion experiments, such instabilities have long been known. However, in spite of intense research into theexplosion of wires in liquids, the development of these instabilities has either not been observed or has been assumed to play a minor role inthe parameters of the exploding wire due to the tamping of the wire’s explosion. Using synchrotron based multiframe radiography, we haveseen the development of platelike density structures along an exploding copper wire. Our measurements were compared to a 2Dmagnetohydrodynamics simulation, showing similar striation formation. These observed instabilities could affect the measurements of theconductivity of the wire material in the gas-plasma state—an important parameter in the warm dense matter community. The striationscould also act as a seed for other instabilities later in time if the wire is in a dense flow of material or experiences a shock from an adjacentwire—as it would do in experiments with arrays of wires