title: Corona-free electrical explosion of polyimide-coated tungsten wire in vacuum.
abstract: We present experimental evidence of corona-free electrical explosion of dielectric-coated W wire in vacuum. A fast current rise of approximately 150 A/ns and a coating of 2 microm polyimide are both needed to achieve the corona-free regime of explosion. Breakdown is absent in corona-free explosion; the wire remains resistive, and this allows anomalously high energy deposition (approximately 20 times atomization enthalpy). MHD simulations reproduce the main differences between corona and corona-free explosions. A corona-free explosion of a wire can be useful for the generation of a hot plasma column by direct energy deposition.
authors.affiliation: Ktech Corporation, 1300 Eubank Blvd., Albuquerque, New Mexico 87123, USA.
authors.forename: G S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Sarkisov
authors.forename: S E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Rosenthal
authors.forename: K W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Struve
authors.forename: D H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: McDaniel