An Experimental Platform for Pulsed-Power Driven Magnetic Reconnection

TL;DR

This paper introduces a versatile pulsed-power platform for magnetic reconnection experiments, enabling detailed study of plasma dynamics and regimes through adjustable parameters and advanced diagnostics.

Contribution

It presents a novel experimental setup that allows controlled investigation of magnetic reconnection with high temporal and spatial resolution, adaptable to various plasma conditions.

Findings

Different wire materials produce distinct inflow and layer parameters.

Electrode positioning influences the strength of inflows and reconnection regimes.

The platform enables study of both symmetric and asymmetric reconnection.

Abstract

We describe a versatile pulsed-power driven platform for magnetic reconnection experiments, based on exploding wire arrays driven in parallel [Suttle, L. G. et al. PRL, 116, 225001]. This platform produces inherently magnetised plasma flows for the duration of the generator current pulse (250 ns), resulting in a long-lasting reconnection layer. The layer exists for long enough to allow evolution of complex processes such as plasmoid formation and movement to be diagnosed by a suite of high spatial and temporal resolution laser-based diagnostics. We can access a wide range of magnetic reconnection regimes by changing the wire material or moving the electrodes inside the wire arrays. We present results with aluminium and carbon wires, in which the parameters of the inflows and the layer which forms are significantly different. By moving the electrodes inside the wire arrays, we change how strongly the inflows are driven. This enables us to study both symmetric reconnection in a range of different regimes, and asymmetric reconnection.