Laboratory Investigation of Coupling Between Explosive Piston Plasma and Partially Ionized, Magnetized Plasma*

In many astrophysical systems, such as the solar atmosphere, interstellar medium, planetary atmospheres, and accretion disks, partially ionized plasmas (PIP) play a crucial role in their dynamics. The presence of neutral particles significantly impacts the growth of instabilities, energy transport, and coupling processes between plasma species. This study explores the interaction between a high-energy piston plasma created via laser irradiation of a solid target and a partially ionized, magnetized plasma, focusing primarily on planetary atmospheres. A novel gas puffing system was implemented on the Large Plasma Device at UCLA to locally increase the neutral fraction near the target surface, enabling the examination of its effects on the laminar electric fields that predominantly influence the interaction. The study investigates the effects of decreased ionization fractions in helium and hydrogen plasmas to understand the formation and evolution of diamagnetic cavities in a PIP.