Deflection of supersonic plasma jets by ionised hydrocarbon targets

A new application of the wire array Z-pinch is the investigation of astrophysical phenomena. Here highly supersonic jets (mach number, M∼20) formed using over-massed tungsten wire arrays in a conical arrangement [1] on the MAGPIE facility are to study the interaction with plasma targets. Self X-ray emission from the jet formation region is used to ablate various off-axis targets (CH foams, C and CHO foils). Interferometer, shadowgram and gated soft X-ray images show a deflection of the jet by the target plasma and shocks propagating within the jet. Bending angles up to 25° were observed, depending on the initial target position. Hydrodynamic simulations suggest that this deflection is unlikely to be caused by the static density gradient of 5×l0¹⁷ cm⁻⁴ observed in the target plasma, but rather by momentum exchange from a sonic wind flowing from the target.