INVESTIGATION OF CURRENT CHANNEL MIGRATION IN A CONDUCTING PLASMA BETWEEN PLANAR ELECTRODES

Magnetic-field penetration is characterized in a current conducting pl asma between planar electrodes used as a plasma opening switch [G. G. Spanjers, E. J. Yadlowsky, R. C. Hazelton, and J. J. Moschella, J. App l. Phys. 77, 3657 (1995)]. The experiment is performed in a regime whe re Hall effects [Amnon Fruchtman, Phys. Fluids B 3, 1908 (1998)] are p redicted to describe the current channel migration. Measurements of th e magnetic-field penetration in two cases with opposite electrical pol arity indicate that the Hall effects are not the dominate process. A o ne-dimensional resistive magnetohydrodynamic model is used to show tha t current channels in agreement with those measured can be predicted t hrough a coupling of a plasma snowplow motion with resistive diffusion . (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.