The electrical conductivity of shock-ionized argon

Abstract

The electrical conductivity of shock-ionized argon has been measured at temperatures between 6000 °K and 13,000 °K and electron number densities in the range 10 16 to 10 18 cm −3 . The results are compared with theoretically computed values and show sufficient agreement to be plotted on a linear scale. The experimental technique is based on the measurement of voltages generated in a search coil by the flux from currents induced in a plasma moving rapidly through a magnetic field.