Seeding the Electrothermal Instability through a Three-Dimensional, Nonlinear Perturbation
Edmund Yu, T. J. Awe, Kyle Cochrane, Kyle Peterson, Kevin Yates, T. M. Hutchinson, Maren Hatch, B. S. Bauer, K. Tomlinson, D. B. Sinars
Abstract
Electrothermal instability plays an important role in applications of current-driven metal, creating striations (which seed the magneto-Rayleigh-Taylor instability) and filaments (which provide a more rapid path to plasma formation). However, the initial formation of both structures is not well understood. Simulations show for the first time how a commonly occurring isolated defect transforms into the larger striation and filament, through a feedback loop connecting current and electrical conductivity. Simulations have been experimentally validated using defect-driven self-emission patterns.
Topics & Concepts
InstabilityStriationProtein filamentRayleigh–Taylor instabilityPerturbation (astronomy)Nonlinear systemMagnetohydrodynamicsSeedingPhysicsPlasmaRayleigh scatteringMechanicsMaterials scienceOpticsThermodynamicsNuclear physicsComposite materialQuantum mechanicsLaser-induced spectroscopy and plasmaLaser-Plasma Interactions and DiagnosticsPlasma Diagnostics and Applications