Magnetized laboratory plasma jets: experiment and simulation.

Experiments involving radial foils on a 1 MA, 100 ns current driver can be used to study the ablation of thin foils and liners, produce extreme conditions relevant to laboratory astrophysics, and aid in computational code validation. This research focuses on the initial ablation phase of a 20 μm Al foil (8111 alloy), in a radial configuration, driven by Cornell University's COBRA pulsed power generator. In these experiments ablated surface plasma (ASP) on the top side of the foil and a strongly collimated axial plasma jet are observed developing midway through the current rise.