Measuremeints on Current Sheets in Plasmas

The acceleration of a gas undergoing ionization in a crossed electric-magnetic field leads to the formation of current sheets similar to those observed in coaxial plasma guns. The dynamics of such sheets is of great interest to workers in plasma physics in view of their application to controlled thermonuclear fusion experiments and to space propulsion. In the present paper a detailed mapping of the magnetic field in the vicinity of a current sheet is described. Conventional small search coils are used for the detection of this field. From the configuration of this field an attempt is made to understand the processes taking place in the sheet. All of the experiments described in the paper are performed on a plasma coaxial gun of mall aspect ratio.