Rapid turn-on time for an electromagnet for use in cold atom and ultracold plasma experiments

In many experiments with cold atoms or ultracold plasmas, it is desirable to produce magnetic fields using current-carrying coils so that the field can be precisely tuned and can easily be adjusted in magnitude. Production of larger fields often requires several-turn coils given practical considerations, but the resulting inductance of the coils can lead to limitations on how quickly the magnetic field can be changed. We have developed a technique that allows for a rapid turn-on of the current in such a coil using a large external inductor to produce very large emfs to rapidly change the current in the magnetic-field producing coil. We present measurements of our implementation of this technique and discuss its utility in the context of our planned ultracold plasma experiments.