Plasma opening switch conduction scaling

Plasma opening switch (POS) experiments performed on the Hawk generator [Commisso et al., Phys. Fluids B 4, 2368 (1992)] (750 kA, 1.2 μs) determine the dependence of the conduction current and conduction time on plasma density, electrode dimensions, and current rise rate. The experiments indicate that for a range of parameters, conduction is controlled by magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) distortion of the plasma, resulting in a low density region where opening can occur, possibly by erosion. The MHD distortion corresponds to an axial translation of the plasma center‐of‐mass by half the initial plasma length, leading to a simple scaling relation between the conduction current and time, and the injected plasma density and POS electrode dimensions that is applicable to a large number of POS experiments. For smaller currents and conduction times, the Hawk data suggest a non‐MHD conduction limit that may correspond to electromagnetohydrodynamic (EMH) field penetration through the POS plasma.