Development of plasma targets for interaction experiments at Tokyo Institute of Technology

A plasma target of z-pinch discharge is developed to obtain a hydrogen plasma of density approaching 10¹⁸ cm^-3. The target plasma has a duration of about 1 μs for an initial gas pressure of 80 Pa. Prior to the gas flow type of target, the z-pinch process of a gas-filled discharge tube was studied by comparison with a computer simulation. The behavior of the z pinch is understood in terms of the dynamics of a shock wave and a current boundary sheet. A laser-induced plasma is also examined as an alternative plasma target free from the plasma lens effect.