Experiments in high energy density (HED) plasma physics have become more accessible with the increasing availability of high-intensity pulsed lasers. Extending the experiment parameters to include magnetized HED plasmas requires a field source that can generate fields of order 100 tesla. This dissertation discusses the design and implementation of a pulsed field driver with a designed maximum of 2.2 MA from a 160 kJ capacitor bank. Faraday rotation measurement of 63 T for a 1.0 MA discharge supported Biot-Savart estimates for a single-turn coil with a 1 cm bore. After modification, the field driver generated up to 15 T to magnetize supernova-like spherical blast waves driven by the Texas Petawatt Laser. The presence of the high field suppressed blast wave expansion, and had the additional effect of revealing a cylindrical plasma along the laser axis. / text
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UTEXAS/oai:repositories.lib.utexas.edu:2152/25985 |
| Date | 18 September 2014 |
| Creators | Wisher, Matthew Louis |
| Source Sets | University of Texas |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | application/pdf |
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