Electric Explosion of a Surface Carrying a Megaampere Current

The formation of plasma on the surface of a current-carrying electrode of a high-current facility when a current flows through it with a linear density of up to 4 MA/cm and is coated with lead foil or ceramic is studied. The propagation velocity of a dense plasma from a stainless steel electrode is 2–10 km/s, and when the electrode is coated with lead, it is 1–6 km/s. In these experiments, there is no load typical for such facilities—a source of intense X-ray radiation. The plasma propagation from ceramic-coated electrodes starts 200 ns later than that for metal electrodes.