Laboratory plasma physics experiments using merging supersonic plasma jets

We describe a laboratory plasma physics experiment at Los Alamos National Laboratory that uses two merging supersonic plasma jets formed and launched by pulsed-power-driven railguns. The jets can be formed using any atomic species or mixture available in a compressed-gas bottle and have the following nominal initial parameters at the railgun nozzle exit: n(e) approximate to n(i) similar to 10(16) cm(-3), T-e approximate to T-i approximate to 1.4 eV, V-jet approximate to 30-100 km/s, mean charge (Z) over bar approximate to 1, sonic Mach number M-s = V-jet/C-s > 10, jet diameter = 5 cm, and jet length approximate to 20 cm. Experiments to date have focused on the study of merging-jet dynamics and the shocks that form as a result of the interaction, in both collisional and collisionless regimes with respect to the inter-jet classical ion mean free path, and with and without an applied magnetic field. However, many other studies are also possible, as discussed in this paper.