Numerical analysis of experimental data to infer plasma motion in plasma opening switches

Abstract
Plasma Opening Switch (POS) experiments to support Sandia National Laboratories PBFA II ion beam accelerator were conducted on Maxwell Laboratories Blackjack 5 accelerator. The first experiment tested an improved flashboard plasma source to generate a uniformly opening POS. The results showed that the J X B force caused plasma motion into the diode load region prior to the opening of the POS. Plasma motion was inferred by comparing experimental data to circuit models which used a variable resistance POS and a variable inductance (L-dot) term. The L-dot term was necessary in the model to reproduce the experimental results.

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