The influence of the solid to plasma phase transition on the generation of plasma instabilitiesThe influence of the solid to plasma phase transition on the generation of plasma instabilities Peer-Reviewed Journal Publication Δημοσίευση σε Περιοδικό με Κριτές 2018-03-092017enThe study of plasma instabilities is a research topic with fundamental importance since for the majority of plasma applications they are unwanted and there is always the need for their suppression. The initiating physical processes that seed the generation of plasma instabilities are not well understood in all plasma geometries and initial states of matter. For most plasma instability studies, using linear or even nonlinear magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) theory, the most crucial step is to correctly choose the initial perturbations imposed either by a predefined perturbation, usually sinusoidal, or by randomly seed perturbations as initial conditions. Here, we demonstrate that the efficient study of the seeding mechanisms of plasma instabilities requires the incorporation of the intrinsic real physical characteristics of the solid target in an electro-thermo-mechanical multiphysics study. The present proof-of-principle study offers a perspective to the understanding of the seeding physical mechanisms in the generation of plasma instabilities.http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Nature Communications81 Kaselouris Evaggelos N. Κασελούρης Ευάγγελος Ν. Dimitriou Vasileios Δημητρίου Βασίλειος Fitilis Ioannis Φυτίλης Ιωάννης Skoulakis A. Σκουλάκης Α. Koundourakis G. Κουνδουράκης Γ. Clark Eugene L. Bakarezos Makis Μπακαρέζος Μάκης Nikolos Ioannis Νικολος Ιωαννης Papadogiannis Nektarios Παπαδογιάννης Νεκτάριος Tatarakis Michael K. Ταταράκης Μιχαήλ Κ. Nature Publishing Group Plasma