WWW.NATURE.COM/NATURE | 1
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
doi:10.1038/nature10827
Inner electrode
5 cm
SIFigure1:Three-dimensionalhelicalstructureofthekinkinstability.
Thehelixisright-handed;
thatis,theportionofthefilamentontheleft-handsideoftheimageisintheforegroundandtheportion
ofthefilamentconnectedtotheelectrodeontheright-handsideoftheimageisinthebackground.Inthis
casetheargonplasmafilamentshowsthebeginningoffinestructureassociatedwiththeRayleigh–Taylor
instability.Shotno.11,037;imageintensityislogarithmicallyscaledandfalsecolored.
5 cm
SIFigure2:Plasmafilamentbreaksandreconnects.
Anargonplasmajetreconnectsafterthekink
instabilityandRayleigh–Taylorinstability.Thefilamentsnapped;theportionofthefilamentstillconnected
totheelectrodeontheright-handsideoftheimageacceleratesdownward.TheRayleigh–Taylorinstability
isonthetrailingsideofboththeupwardanddownwardacceleratingportions.Shotno.11,131;image
intensityislogarithmicallyscaledandfalsecolored.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
2
| WWW.NATURE.COM/NATURE
RESEARCH
0
20
40
60
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
t(
μ
s)
Photodiode signal(V)
SIFigure3:Extreme-ultravioletradiationburstatthetimeofreconnection.
Figureshows
photodiodedatacomparingthecasewithandwithoutreconnection.Theredtrace,shotno.11,042,isfrom
anexponentiallygrowingkinkthatundergoesaRayleigh–Taylorinstabilityandreconnects.Theredtrace
showsapeakinemissioncenteredat
∼
30
μ
s,thecorrespondingfastcameraimageshowsfinestructureat
30
μ
sandthattheplasmahasreconnectedby32
μ
s.Thebluetrace,shotno.11,044,isfromalinearly
growingkink,forcomparison.
22
24
26
28
30
32
34
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
t(
μ
s)
Probe signal
(V)
-
-
-
SIFigure4:Electrostaticexcitationsatthetimeofreconnection.
Figureshowscapacitively
coupledprobedatacomparingthecasewithandwithoutreconnection.Theredtrace,shotno.11,214,is
fromanexponentiallygrowingkinkthatundergoesaRayleigh–Taylorinstabilityandreconnects.Thesignal
isstrongestat
∼
29
μ
s;thecorrespondingfastcameraimagesshowfinestructurebeginningtoformat28
μ
s,growingat29
μ
sandthattheplasmahasreconnectedby30
μ
s.Thebluetrace,shotno.11,202,isfrom
alinearlygrowingkink,forcomparison.AFouriertransformofthereddatashowsthatthefrequencyof
excitationis
∼
30MHz.Theargonplasmahasadensityof
∼
10
22
m
−
3
,andinshotno.11,214amagnetic
probearraymeasuredthemagneticfieldtobe
B
=0
.
2T;thesevaluesputthisfrequencyofoscillationin
thewhistlerwaveregime.
WWW.NATURE.COM/NATURE | 3
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
RESEARCH
5 cm
SIFigure5:Hydrogenplasmadoesnotreachmicroscale.
Ahydrogenplasmajetkinksandthen
developsaRayleigh–Taylorinstability.TheRayleigh–Taylorinstabilitydoesnoterodetheplasmafilament
sufficientlyformagneticreconnectiontotakeplacebecausetheionskindepthis
c/ω
pi
≈
0
.
2cmwhereas
thefilamentdiameteris0
.
8–1cmatitsthinnestpoint.Shotno.11,574;imageintensityislogarithmically
scaledandfalsecolored.