Focusing of an explosive plasma expansion in a transverse magnetic field.
The dynamics of a laser ablation plasma expanding in an external magnetic field have been investigated with imaging interferometry and shadowgraphy. The diagnostics reveal a new interaction mechanism, namely, the redirection of the explosive plasma expansion into a converging flow. A comparison with three-dimensional ideal magnetohydrodynamic simulation results supports the observation that the efficient lateral plasma confinement causes the plasma to converge on the axis and initiate a directed flow. The resulting collimated flow propagates across the magnetic field in a kinetic regime, which cannot be modeled within the same framework.
University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, Nevada 89557, USA.
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Plechaty
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Presura
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Esaulov