The optical emission spectrum of the propagating current sheet in a small-bore parallel-plate electromagnetic plasma accelerator has been studied. The accelerator is powered by a fourteen stage pulse forming network, which yields a damped oscillation square wave of current with a pulse width of 20.5 μs. The movement of the first current sheet and the second current sheet is identified using three single magnetic probes placed at various axial positions. Current sheet canting is measured by two double magnetic probes. The spectrum of the current sheet is measured using a spectroscopic system. The electron density of the current sheet plasma is determined via Stark broadening of the hydrogen H_α line. The current sheet is almost perpendicular to the electrode. The current sheet electron density increases as the current sheet propagates. The current sheet electron density is mainly determined by the prefill pressure rather than the discharge current. The impurity charged particles caused by ablation of the back wall insulator exists in the current sheet. Residual particles are generally left behind the first current sheet and are swept and ionized by the second current sheet. The estimated current sheet sweeping efficiency is greater than 80%. The parallel-plate electromagnetic plasma accelerator developed in this paper shows great potential in generating high electron density plasma jets.

High-entropy oxides are a new type of material that consists of five or more principal elements in an equimolar or nearly equimolar ratio. They have many excellent properties and are rapidly becoming a hotspot for the development of new high-performance materials. In this study, electrical explosion is used for the first time to synthesize high-entropy oxide nanopowders with different crystal structures. (FeCoNiCrCu)O is the rock salt structure, (FeCoNiCrTi)O is the spinel structure, and (CoNiTiCuZn)O contains the two phases. According to the TEM and EDS results, the distribution of the five metal elements in the electrical explosion products is comparatively homogeneous, and the particle size of the products is concentrated in 20–40 nm. Elements such as Ti are prone to the formation of spinel structure, and the element Cu is prone to the formation of rock salt structure. The study shows that the electrical explosion of wires is a new method for the synthesis of high-entropy oxide nanopowders.

The effects of discharge parameters on the discharge process and plasma transport characteristics of a coaxial gun in the gas-prefilled mode are studied. The plasma optical intensity and ejection velocity are measured by photodiodes, the optical emission spectrum is taken by a spectroscopic system, and the plasma evolution in the transport process is captured by a high-speed camera. The plasma acceleration characteristics under different discharge parameters show that the velocity and electron density of the ejection plasma are mainly determined by the pre-filled pressure and discharge current, which is consistent with the snowplow model. The kinetic energy of ejection plasma can be significantly increased by reducing the outer loop inductance, which is conducive to increasing the energy utilization efficiency. The time-varying images of plasma radiation and the plasma density at different transport locations illuminate the transmission characteristics of coaxial gun discharge plasma. The results show that the snowplow effect continues to play a role in the plasma transport process, and the plasma accumulation is induced by the combination of shock wave compression. The current-driven magneto hydrodynamics instability occurs during the transport process, and the luminous signal of the plasma current sheet oscillates periodically. In addition, the plasma impact effect is obvious and the gas retarding effect is enhanced with the increase in the gas pressure. These results give us a more comprehensive view of the coaxial gun discharge process and plasma transport and provide a certain reference for optimizing the parameters selection and physical design of coaxial gun discharge plasma characteristics.

A repetitive plasma source for simulation of mitigated edge localized mode transient heat load is developed. The repetitive plasma source consists of a repetitive pulsed power supply and a pulsed plasma accelerator. The pulsed plasma accelerator is composed of a coaxial cathode, an anode, and an insulator. The inner electrode is the cathode with a diameter of 5 mm, and the outer electrode is the anode with a diameter of 15 mm. An angular magnetic field is generated by the discharge current and acts with the radial current to generate Lorentz force, which drives the plasma ejecting to the outlet. The repetitive pulsed power supply can be divided into three parts, the primary charge circuit, the resonant charge circuit, and the discharge circuit. The time interval between resonant charge and discharge is 4 ms. The repetitive discharge components include ten modules running in parallel. There are four working modes for discharge components, depending on the number of simultaneously discharged modules. For Mode A, the maximum repetitive frequency is 50 Hz, and the transient heat load is 0.06 MJ/m² when the discharge current is 10.5 kA. For Mode D, the maximum repetitive frequency is 5 Hz, and the transient heat load is 0.45 MJ/m² when the discharge current is 66 kA. This is of great significance for the study of the interaction between plasma and plasma-facing materials in tokamak.

The development of pulsed power technology demands high energy storage density dielectric materials. In this study, Sr_0.7Bi_0.2TiO₃ relaxor ferroelectric (rFE) ceramic thick films were prepared using a tape-casting process. The ceramics exhibit a dense structure and typical rFE hysteresis curves, achieving an energy storage density of 4.77 J cm⁻³ and efficiency of 94.4%, attributed to the high polarization intensity, low remnant polarization, and low hysteresis loss of rFE. Additionally, the material demonstrates good temperature stability. Moreover, the Sr_0.7Bi_0.2TiO₃ ceramic thick films show advantages in charge-discharge performance, capable of discharging within hundreds of nanoseconds and achieving a power density of 137 MW cm⁻³. Overall, the Sr_0.7Bi_0.2TiO₃ ceramic thick film exhibits a comprehensive performance advantage in terms of energy storage density, efficiency, and power density. Additionally, the material was fabricated using the tape-casting process, which is compatible with subsequent multilayer ceramic capacitor production, indicating potential for further performance enhancement.

The transition from snowplow mode to deflagration mode of a parallel-plate plasma accelerator under gas-prefilled conditions is studied. The accelerator is powered by a sinusoidal-wave power supply with a first half-period current of 24.3 μs. The current distribution of the current conduction channel is measured by magnetic probes, the optical emission spectrum by a spectroscopic system, and the plasma optical intensity by photodiodes. The parallel-plate plasma accelerator does not form a thin current sheet, but a wide and diffuse current conduction region when the capacitors are charged to 8 kV and 13 kV. The discharge mode is a transition from snowplow mode to deflagration mode, from the current leading edge to the trailing edge. The plasma front region continuously sweeps and ionizes the neutral gas within a certain thickness, which is characteristic of snowplow mode, whereas the plasma tail region is a stationary current conducting channel maintained by ablating the copper electrodes, which is characteristic of deflagration mode. The transition mechanism from snowplow mode to deflagration mode might be breakdown caused by rail electrode overvoltage.