Carbon Fibre Z-Pinch

Z-pinch belongs to one of the most fascinating plasma objects due to its simplicity, natural occurrence and variety of applications. This book focuses on a Z-pinch formed from a carbon fibre with a few micrometers in diameter. On the one hand, a large number of papers are devoted to studies of Z-pinches initiated from a high atomic number metal wire. On the other hand, no systematic effort has been made to study a Z-pinch initiated from a carbon fibre in vacuum using a simple capacitor bank. This work presents the description of carbon fibre Z-pinch dynamics and it shows that unique properties of carbon could provide valuable data not only for Z-pinch physics (breakdown physics, implosion of a low density plasma, carbon fiber ablation, dynamics of bright spots etc.) but also for life science and material science in which carbon is often used. Therefore, this resource might be helpful to those who are interested in physics and diagnostics of Z-pinch plasma and to those who want to know what happens when an electric current of 100 kiloamperes starts to flow through a few micrometer thick carbon fibre.