Publications by authors named "T Clayson"
Article Synopsis
- A new technique has been developed to measure velocity and ion sound speed in magnetized, high-energy-density plasmas using a "b-dot" probe in a supersonic plasma flow.
- The method relies on the magnetic Reynolds number to relate the magnetic field to current, allowing for real-time velocity estimation and shock structure analysis via a Mach-Zehnder interferometer.
- Measurements of a specific aluminum plasma generated by an exploding wire array show strong agreement with existing optical and simulation data, confirming the technique's effectiveness.
We report on a recently developed laser-probing diagnostic, which allows direct measurements of ray-deflection angles in one axis while retaining imaging capabilities in the other axis. This allows us to measure the spectrum of angular deflections from a laser beam, which passes through a turbulent high-energy-density plasma. This spectrum contains information about the density fluctuations within the plasma, which deflect the probing laser over a range of angles.
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- The study focuses on experiments that investigate the formation and interaction of radiative shocks using the Orion laser facility, specifically in xenon gas.
- The experiment uniquely combines two counterpropagating shocks and their radiative precursors, creating a 3D shock environment ideal for testing numerical models.
- Results from point-projection x-ray backlighting and optical laser interferometry measurements align well with predictions from 2D radiation hydrodynamic models, confirming the accuracy of these simulations.
We present a detailed study of magnetic reconnection in a quasi-two-dimensional pulsed-power driven laboratory experiment. Oppositely directed magnetic fields (B=3 T), advected by supersonic, sub-Alfvénic carbon plasma flows (V_{in}=50 km/s), are brought together and mutually annihilate inside a thin current layer (δ=0.6 mm).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe present experiments characterizing the detailed structure of a current layer, generated by the collision of two counterstreaming, supersonic and magnetized aluminum plasma flows. The antiparallel magnetic fields advected by the flows are found to be mutually annihilated inside the layer, giving rise to a bifurcated current structure-two narrow current sheets running along the outside surfaces of the layer. Measurements with Thomson scattering show a fast outflow of plasma along the layer and a high ion temperature (T_{i}∼Z[over ¯]T_{e}, with average ionization Z[over ¯]=7).
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