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New experimental platform to study high density laser-compressed matter
M Gauthier1, L B Fletcher1, A Ravasio1
1SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA.
The Review of Scientific Instruments
|November 29, 2014
Summary
A new experimental platform at the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) provides rapid insights into warm dense matter. This method captures the transformation of shock-compressed plastic from semi-crystalline to a liquid state.
Area of Science:
- Plasma Physics
- Materials Science
- X-ray Science
Background:
- Understanding the properties of warm dense matter is crucial for various scientific fields.
- Previous methods lacked the temporal resolution to capture rapid dynamic changes in such states.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce a novel experimental platform for studying warm dense matter.
- To demonstrate the platform's capability in characterizing shock-compressed materials.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing a new experimental setup at the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS).
- Employing simultaneous angularly and spectrally resolved x-ray scattering.
- Leveraging < 50 fs x-ray pulses for high-temporal-resolution snapshots.
Main Results:
- Observed the disappearance of semi-crystalline structure in shock-compressed plastic.
- Identified the formation of a compressed liquid ion-ion correlation peak.
- Demonstrated the potential for measuring plasma parameters with averaging over multiple shots.
Conclusions:
- The new platform offers unprecedented insights into the structural and thermodynamic properties of warm dense matter.
- The technique successfully characterizes dynamic phase transitions in materials under extreme conditions.
- Further measurements can provide detailed plasma parameters for shock-compressed materials.
