Exploding-wire plasma in the diode of a high-current accelerator

The explosion of a wire in the diode of a high-current accelerator has been studied experimentally. The discharge current ranged up to 150 kA and the power up to 1010 w. The dynamics of the formation of the plasma filament, with a large number of constrictions, was studied by high-speed framing Schlieren and interference photography in the beam from a ruby laser (five frames at an exposure time of 3 ns, at intervals of 40--120 ns). The diameter of the filament did not exceed 40 μm at the constrictions. The plasma emission spectrum in the interval 2--20 A was analyzed with crystal spectrographs. The plasma density and temperature were determined by x-ray spectral methods. The electron density reached 1022 cm-3, and the temperature 1 keV, at the constrictions