Laboratory plasma jet disruption above a critical axial magnetic field

In the present research, plasma jets form from Joule heating and ablation of a radial foil (∼15 μm thin disk) using a pulsed power generator (COBRA) with 1 MA peak current and 100 ns rise time. We study the effects on jet dynamics resulting from varying an applied uniform axial magnetic field (Bz) from 0 to 1.8 T. We empirically observe a disruption of the plasma jet collimation. The critical Bz for the disruption depends upon the foil material (Al, Ti, Ni, Cu). We discuss physical reasons for the material dependence of the disruption.