Pulsed-power magnetized shocks under an external magnetic field

We present the results of the magnetized plasma jets and magnetized shock experimental campaign on the Michigan Accelerator for Inductive Z-Pinch Experiments (MAIZE) in the Plasma, Pulsed Power, and Microwave Laboratory at the University of Michigan. This experiment aims to explore 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. 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 we can vary from 0.5 to 5 T. We examine the characteristics and behavior of the shock layer through the analysis of shadowgraphy and interferometry data and compare the effects of the external magnetic field on the evolution of the magnetized plasma and the shock layer.