Seeding the Electrothermal Instability through a Three-Dimensional, Nonlinear Perturbation

Abstract

Electrothermal instability plays an important role in applications of current-driven metal, creating striations (which seed the magneto-Rayleigh-Taylor instability) and filaments (which provide a more rapid path to plasma formation). However, the initial formation of both structures is not well understood. Simulations show for the first time how a commonly occurring isolated defect transforms into the larger striation and filament, through a feedback loop connecting current and electrical conductivity. Simulations have been experimentally validated using defect-driven self-emission patterns.