Capillary plasma gun for a high-current plasma-filled diode

A capillary-type plasma gun designed for generating a plasma channel with a characteristic diameter of ≈10 mm in a high-current relativistic electron diode has been tested. The dynamics of ion flow propagation and the effect of the plasma source parameters on the current amplitude of the low-resistance phase of the plasma-filled diode have been studied. A low-resistance phase duration of ≈120 ns has been attained at a current of ≈185 kA in the diode based on a unit gun with a 0.4-mm-diameter capillary. The possibility of increasing the diode current by using several capillaries in a gun is demonstrated.