Laser-produced magnetic-Rayleigh-Taylor unstable plasma slabs in a 20 T magnetic field

TL;DR

This study presents the first detailed 3D analysis of laser-produced plasma slabs in a strong magnetic field, revealing how magnetic collimation and Rayleigh-Taylor instability shape plasma dynamics.

Contribution

It provides the first comprehensive 3D description of laser-driven plasma expansion in a 20 T magnetic field, highlighting magnetic collimation and instability effects.

Findings

Plasma is collimated into a slender slab by the magnetic field.

The plasma-vacuum interface exhibits classical magnetized Rayleigh-Taylor instability.

The study advances understanding of plasma behavior in strong magnetic fields.

Abstract

Magnetized laser-produced plasmas are central to many novel laboratory astrophysics and inertial confinement fusion studies, as well as in industrial applications. Here we provide the first complete description of the three-dimensional dynamics of a laser-driven plasma plume expanding in a 20 T transverse magnetic field. The plasma is collimated by the magnetic field into a slender, rapidly elongating slab, whose plasma-vacuum interface is unstable to the growth of the "classical", fluid-like magnetized Rayleigh-Taylor instability.