Electrical oscillations of the UNU-ICTP plasma focus device in the early breakdown phase

Abstract

Recent circuit driven electromagnetic particle in cell simulation of the United Nations University-International Centre for Theoretical Physics plasma focus device revealed regular oscillations in both the voltage and current profiles. The simulated voltage waveform agreed well with the experimental profile, where similar unaccounted oscillations were also observed. In this paper, the oscillations are attributed to the plasma inductance, whose value was calculated by circuit analysis and agreed reasonably well with the computed experimental value. A circuit simulation of the prebreakdown and postbreakdown phases, with the plasma inductance incorporated, reproduced with sufficiency accuracy the electromagnetic particle in cell generated waveforms and consequently confirmed our finding.