Abstract
A combination of the high electric field intensity attainable with a focused laser beam and the high electric current capability of an electrical pulsed power system is an efficient technique for heating small diameter wires. Measurements have been made on the combined electrical—laser heating of 25-μ-diameter, 6-mm-long bare copper wires. Electrical heating was provided by a 0.05-μF, 20-kV capacitor, discharging through the wire with a frequency of 3 MHz. A ruby laser, generating a single 10-nsec pulse with a peak power of 40 MW, was used for optical heating. With the laser beam focused in a 1000-μ-diameter spot on the wire, a power density of 5.1 × 109 W/cm2, corresponding to an average electric field of 1.4 × 106 V/cm, was measured. The focused laser beam produces a high degree of ionization in the wire material during the “discharge pause.”
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
V.E. Scherrer, in Exploding Wires, Vol. 1, W.G.Chace and H.K. Moore, eds., Plenum Press, New York (1959), p. 118.
J. Katzenstein, in Exploding Wires, Vol. 1, W.G.Chace and H.K. Moore, eds., Plenum Press, New York (1959). p. 135.
I. Vitkovitsky, Physics of Fluids 7: 612 (1964).
F. Bennett, BRL Report No. 1339, October 1966.
W. Lochte-Holtgreven, Reports on Progress in Physics, Vol. XXI, The Physical Society, London, England, pp. 358–363.
F.D. Bennett, Physics of Fluids 8: 1106 (1965).
O,H. Zinke, R.B. Owen, and C.K. Manka, in Exploding Wires, Vol. 3, W.G. Chace and H.K. Moore, eds., Plenum Press, New York (1964), p. 103.
W.I. Linlor, Appl. Phys. Letters 4: 169 (1964).
A.F. Haught and D.H. Polk, Physics of Fluids 9: 2047 (1966).
Yu. P. Raizer, Soviety Physics—Uspekhi 8: 650–2 (1966).
P. Nelson, P. Veyrie, M. Berry, and Y. Durand, Phys. Letters 13: 226 (1964).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1968 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Scherrer, V.E., Davis, P.W., Hillsman, M.J., Manser, D. (1968). Interaction of High-Powered Focused Laser Beam with Exploding Wire. In: Chace, W.G., Moore, H.K. (eds) Exploding Wires. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-7328-3_12
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-7328-3_12
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4899-7330-6
Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-7328-3
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive