Determination of Electromagnetic Wave Propagation from an Electrically Pulsed Thin Film

The Energy Systems Institute is currently performing pulsed-power flashover research on thin films arranged in various geometries. Currently the research is focused on the power transfer characteristics of the film, which consists of a polypropylene layer with a thin aluminum coating on it. It is also known that the surface arcing that occurs when an appropriate electrical pulse is applied to the film is affected by the presence of magnetic and electric fields. By arranging the film in various geometries, the electric and magnetic fields produced by the current will be altered, thereby changing the behavior of the plasma and surface arcing. Therefore, it is important to know the spatial and temporal dependence of these fields so that the resultant surface arcing can be understood and even predicted. In order to do this, a model will be fitted to the experimental current waveform and used in a theoretical treatment of the electrodynamic processes. The necessary calculations will be performed numerically and the results presented as a function of space and time.