Pulsed-power magnetized shocks under an external magnetic field

We present the results from our second experimental campaign with the goal of characterizing magnetized plasma jets and magnetized shocks on the Michigan Accelerator for Inductive Z-Pinch Experiments (MAIZE) in the Plasma, Pulsed Power, and Microwave Laboratory at the University of Michigan. We show the interactions of magnetized plasma jets created by conical wire-arrays and the behavior of shocks generated by collisions with a solid obstacle in the presence of an external magnetic field. We show how the structure and behavior of the shock layer, as well as flow instabilities, vary as a function of magnetic field strength. To generate the magnetized plasma flows, we used MAIZE to ablate 100-micron, aluminum wire arrays with currents in the order of 500 kA with a rise time of 250 ns. We use a conical array to drive an axial plasma jet, while an externally powered Helmholtz coil provides a uniform axial magnetic field which we can vary from 0.5 to 5 T. Our primary diagnostic consists of laser shadowgraphy (532 nm), captured by an intensified, fast framing camera, showing the structure and evolution of the plasma flow. In addition, preliminary results from a newly installed laser interferometry diagnostic identify density features that may correspond to a bow-shock layer.