ELECTRICALLY EXPLODED WIRES--EXPERIMENTS AND THEORY, PROGRESS REPORT FOR MARCH 1, 1958 TO JUNE 30, 1960

Design details of the high-temperature laboratory are given. An elementary theory of the processes which might occur in an exploding wire is outlined and, where possible, numerical examples are presented which can be applied to experiments. The electronic instrumentation program which includes traveling-wave scope techniques for measuring current and power in exploding wires with 10/sup -9/ sec resolution is described. Equipment development centered around three capacitor systems which are referred to as the Mylar capacitor, the water capacitor, and the Mylar water capacitor. The relevant parameters for the LRC circuits made from the three discharge systems and the exploding wire are listed. The Mylar capacitor was designed as the primary system in the program to obtain high-intensity x-ray pulses from exploding wires. The Mylar-water capacitor was developed to obtain a highvoltage capacitor with a discharge time approaching 10/sup -8/ seconds. The water capacitor was developed for use in exploding foils to produce strong shocks in solids. The high-speed optical instrumentation for exploding wire phenomens is described. (M.C.G.)