Mechanisms of the destruction of micron conductors by an electromagnetic pulse with a subnanosecond front

The results of the experiments on the destruction of micron-diameter conductors by an electromagnetic pulse, which is generated in an inhomogeneous coaxial line by a high-voltage power source and has a subnanosecond front, are reported. The role of electrodynamic processes in the surface layer of microconductors and in environment in the formation of the spatial structure of the plasma channel and in the transformation of the energy of the source to the energy of radiation has been revealed. The spectral characteristics of the radiation of the plasma channel have been analyzed. It has been shown that the radiation spectrum at the time of the formation of the plasma corona is continuous. The most intense spectral lines of copper ($510.554$, $515.324$, $521.82$ nm) appear at $\sim3$ ns after the formation of the plasma corona. The temperature has been estimated from the ratio of the intensities of the spectral lines as $T_e\sim0.7$ eV.