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We describe a platform to measure the material properties, specifically the equation of state and electron temperature, at pressures of 100 Mbar to a Gbar at the National Ignition Facility (NIF). In these experiments we launch spherically convergent shock waves into solid CH, CD, or diamond samples using a hohlraum radiation drive, in an indirect drive laser geometry. X-ray radiography is applied to measure the shock speed and infer the mass density profile, enabling determination of the material pressure and Hugoniot equation of state. X-ray scattering is applied to measure the electron temperature through probing of the electron velocity distribution via Doppler broadening.

We have developed accurate x-ray scattering techniques to measure the physical properties of dense plasmas. Temperature and density are inferred from inelastic x-ray scattering data whose interpretation is model-independent for low to moderately coupled systems. Specifically, the spectral shape of the non-collective Compton scattering spectrum directly reflects the electron velocity distribution. In partially Fermi-degenerate systems that have been investigated experimentally in laser shock-compressed beryllium, the Compton scattering spectrum provides the Fermi energy and hence the electron density. We show that forward scattering spectra that observe collective plasmon oscillations yield densities in agreement with non-collective Compton scattering. In addition, electron temperatures inferred from the dispersion of the plasmon feature are consistent with the ion temperature sensitive elastic scattering feature. Hence, theoretical models of the static ion–ion structure factor and consequently the equation of state of dense matter can be directly tested.

We present measurements of the chlorine K-alpha emission from reduced mass targets, irradiated with ultra-high intensity laser pulses. Chlorinated plastic targets with diameters down to 50 μm and mass of a few 10−8 g were irradiated with up to 7 J of laser energy focused to intensities of several 1019 W/cm2. The conversion of laser energy to K-alpha radiation is measured, and high-resolution spectra that allow observation of line shifts are observed, indicating isochoric heating of the target up to 18 eV. A zero-dimensional 2-temperature equilibration model, combined with electron impact K-shell ionization and post processed spectra from collisional radiative calculations reproduces the observed K-alpha yields and line shifts, and shows the importance of target expansion due to the hot electron pressure.

The plasma conditions in isochorically heated beryllium are measured by collective x-ray Thomson scattering. The collectively scattered Cl Ly-α x-ray line at 2.96 keV shows up- and down-shifted plasmon signals. From the detailed balance relation, i.e., the ratio of the up-shifted to the down-shifted plasmon intensities, the plasma temperature can be determined independent of model assumptions. Results are shown for an experiment in which a temperature of 18 eV was measured. Using detailed balance for temperature measurement will be important to validate models that calculate the static ion–ion structure factor Sii(k).