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The Laser Shock Station in the Dynamic Compression Sector (DCS) [Advanced Photon Source (APS), Argonne National Laboratory] links a laser-driven shock compression platform with high energy x-ray pulses from the APS to achieve in situ, time-resolved x-ray measurements (diffraction and imaging) in materials subjected to well-characterized, high stress, short duration shock waves. This station and the other DCS experimental stations provide a unique and versatile facility to study condensed state phenomena subjected to shocks with a wide range of amplitudes (to above ∼350 GPa) and time-durations (∼10 ns-1 µs). The Laser Shock Station uses a 100 J, 5-17 ns, 351 nm frequency tripled Nd:glass laser with programmable pulse shaping and focal profile smoothing for maximum precision. The laser can operate once every 30 min. The interaction chamber has multiple diagnostic ports, a sample holder to expose 14 samples without breaking vacuum, can vary the angle between the x-ray and laser beams by 135°, and can translate to select one of the two types of x-ray beams. The x-ray measurement temporal resolution is ∼90 ps. The system is capable of reproducible, well-characterized experiments. In a series of 10 shots, the absolute variation in shock breakout times was less than 500 ps. The variation in peak particle velocity at the sample/window interface was 4.3%. This paper describes the entire DCS Laser Shock Station, including sample fabrication and diagnostics, as well as experimental results from shock compressed tantalum that demonstrate the facility's capability for acquiring high quality x-ray diffraction data.

We have developed an experimental platform for the National Ignition Facility that uses spherically converging shock waves for absolute equation-of-state (EOS) measurements along the principal Hugoniot. In this Letter, we present one indirect-drive implosion experiment with a polystyrene sample that employs radiographic compression measurements over a range of shock pressures reaching up to 60 Mbar (6 TPa). This significantly exceeds previously published results obtained on the Nova laser [R. Cauble et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 80, 1248 (1998)PRLTAO0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.80.1248] at a strongly improved precision, allowing us to discriminate between different EOS models. We find excellent agreement with Kohn-Sham density-functional-theory-based molecular dynamics simulations.

Pressure- and temperature-induced phase transitions have been studied for more than a century but very little is known about the non-equilibrium processes by which the atoms rearrange. Shock compression generates a nearly instantaneous propagating high-pressure/temperature condition while in situ X-ray diffraction (XRD) probes the time-dependent atomic arrangement. Here we present in situ pump-probe XRD measurements on shock-compressed fused silica, revealing an amorphous to crystalline high-pressure stishovite phase transition. Using the size broadening of the diffraction peaks, the growth of nanocrystalline stishovite grains is resolved on the nanosecond timescale just after shock compression. At applied pressures above 18 GPa the nuclueation of stishovite appears to be kinetically limited to 1.4±0.4 ns. The functional form of this grain growth suggests homogeneous nucleation and attachment as the growth mechanism. These are the first observations of crystalline grain growth in the shock front between low- and high-pressure states via XRD.

We have developed an experimental platform for absolute equation of state measurements up to Gbar pressures on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) within the Fundamental Science Program. We use a symmetry-tuned hohlraum drive to launch a spherical shock wave into a solid CH sphere. Streaked radiography is the primary diagnostic to measure the density change at the shock front as the pressure increases towards smaller radii. At shock stagnation in the center of the capsule, we observe a short and bright x-ray self emission from high density (∼50 g/cm(3)) plasma at ∼1 keV. Here, we present results obtained with penumbral imaging which has been carried out to characterize the size of the hot spot emission. This allows extending existing NIF diagnostic capabilities for spatial resolution (currently ∼10 μm) at higher sensitivity. At peak emission we find the hot spot radius to be as small as 5.8 +/- 1 μm, corresponding to a convergence ratio of 200.

We have designed, built, and successfully fielded a highly efficient and gated Bragg crystal spectrometer for x-ray Thomson scattering measurements on the National Ignition Facility (NIF). It utilizes a cylindrically curved Highly Oriented Pyrolytic Graphite crystal. Its spectral range of 7.4-10 keV is optimized for scattering experiments using a Zn He-α x-ray probe at 9.0 keV or Mo K-shell line emission around 18 keV in second diffraction order. The spectrometer has been designed as a diagnostic instrument manipulator-based instrument for the NIF target chamber at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, USA. Here, we report on details of the spectrometer snout, its novel debris shield configuration and an in situ spectral calibration experiment with a Brass foil target, which demonstrated a spectral resolution of E/ΔE = 220 at 9.8 keV.

A new diagnostic for measuring Bragg diffraction of petawatt-generated high-energy x rays off a laser-compressed crystal was designed and tested successfully at the Omega EP laser facility on static Mo and Ta (111) oriented single crystal samples using a 17.5 keV Mo Kα backlighter. The Bragg diffraction imager consists of a heavily shielded enclosure and a precisely positioned beam block attached to the enclosure by an aluminum arm. Fuji image plates are used as the x-ray detectors. The diffraction from Mo and Ta (222) crystal planes was clearly detected with a high signal-to-noise. This technique will be applied to shock- and quasi-isentropically loaded single crystals on the Omega EP laser.

We have used nanosecond bursts of x-rays emitted from a laser-produced plasma, comprised of a mixture of mid-Z elements, to produce a quasiwhite-light spectrum suitable for performing Laue diffraction from single crystals. The laser-produced plasma emits x-rays ranging in energy from 3 to in excess of 10 keV, and is sufficiently bright for single shot nanosecond diffraction patterns to be recorded. The geometry is suitable for the study of laser-shocked crystals, and single-shot diffraction patterns from both unshocked and shocked silicon crystals are presented.

In situ x-ray diffraction has been used to measure the shear strain (and thus strength) of single crystal copper shocked to 100 GPa pressures at strain rates over two orders of magnitude higher than those achieved previously. For shocks in the [001] direction there is a significant associated shear strain, while shocks in the [111] direction give negligible shear strain. We infer, using molecular dynamics simulations and VISAR (standing for 'velocity interferometer system for any reflector') measurements, that the strength of the material increases dramatically (to approximately 1 GPa) for these extreme strain rates.

We report on a focusing x-ray diffraction geometry capable of high-resolution in situ lattice probing from dynamically loaded polycrystalline and amorphous materials. The Seeman-Bohlin-type camera presented here is ideally suited for time-resolved x-ray diffraction measurements performed on high energy multibeam laser platforms. Diffraction from several lattice planes of ablatively shock-loaded 25 mum thick Cu foils was recorded on a focusing circle of diameter D=100 mm with exceptional angular resolution limited only by the spectral broadening of the x-ray source. Excellent agreement was found between the density measured using x-ray diffraction and that inferred from Doppler velocimetry and the known shock Hugoniot of Cu. In addition, x-ray diffraction signal was captured from an amorphous material under static conditions.

Nanosecond pulses of quasimonochromatic x-rays emitted from the K shell of ions within a laser-produced plasma are of sufficient spectral brightness to allow single-shot recording of powder diffraction patterns from thin foils of order millimeter diameter. Strong diffraction signals have been observed in a cylindrical pinhole camera arrangement from both polycrystalline and amorphous foils, and the experimental arrangement and foil dimensions are such that they allow for laser shocking or quasi-isentropic loading of the foil during the diffraction process.

Despite its fundamental importance for a broad range of applications, little is understood about the behaviour of metals during the initial phase of shock compression. Here, we present molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of shock-wave propagation through a metal allowing a detailed analysis of the dynamics of high strain-rate plasticity. Previous MD simulations have not seen the evolution of the strain from one- to three-dimensional compression that is observed in diffraction experiments. Our large-scale MD simulations of up to 352 million atoms resolve this important discrepancy through a detailed understanding of dislocation flow at high strain rates. The stress relaxes to an approximately hydrostatic state and the dislocation velocity drops to nearly zero. The dislocation velocity drop leads to a steady state with no further relaxation of the lattice, as revealed by simulated X-ray diffraction.

Experimental x-ray spectra of the H-like 2p --> 1s (Lyman-alpha) doublet have been obtained using time-integrated high-resolution spectroscopy of a constrained-flow, laser-generated aluminum plasma. These spectra show monotonic alteration of the relative intensities of the doublet components with distance from the target surface. Excellent agreement between experiment and theory is found only if the modeling includes both ion collisional rates between the fine-structure components of the level and, more importantly, the radiative pumping of one Lyman-alpha component by the other component along the direction of the major velocity gradient (i.e., perpendicular to the direction of spectra observation). Understanding radiation transfer in plasmas with high velocity gradients is important in modeling many astrophysical objects, and this experiment acts as a benchmark for such complex calculations.

In situ x-ray diffraction studies of iron under shock conditions confirm unambiguously a phase change from the bcc (alpha) to hcp (epsilon) structure. Previous identification of this transition in shock-loaded iron has been inferred from the correlation between shock-wave-profile analyses and static high-pressure x-ray measurements. This correlation is intrinsically limited because dynamic loading can markedly affect the structural modifications of solids. The in situ measurements are consistent with a uniaxial collapse along the [001] direction and shuffling of alternate (110) planes of atoms, and are in good agreement with large-scale nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulations.

Thomson scattering (TS) measurements are performed at different locations in a laser-produced aluminum plasma. Variations of the separation, wavelength shift, and asymmetric distribution of the two ion-acoustic waves are investigated from their spectral-time-resolved TS images. Detailed information on the space-time evolution of the plasma parameters is obtained. Electron distribution and variation of the heat flux in the plasma are also obtained for a steep temperature gradient.

We investigate the distortion of a spatial intensity modulation imposed on a 527 nm f/10 probe beam as it transmits through an underdense plasma characterized with Thomson scattering. Combining the measurements with full wave simulations of beam propagation through the entire plasma show that the key features of the data can be reproduced using the Kaiser thermal transport model.

We present detailed spectroscopic analysis of the primary K-shell emission lines from a uniaxially expanding laser-produced hydrogenic and heliumlike aluminum plasma. The spectroscopic measurements are found to be consistent with time-dependent hydrodynamic properties of the plasma, measured using Thomson scattering and shadowgraphy. The K-shell population kinetics code FLY with the measured hydrodynamic parameters is used to generate spectra that are compared to the experimental spectra. Excellent agreement is found between the measured and calculated spectra for a variety of experimental target widths employed to produce plasmas with different optical depths. The peak emission from the hydrogenic Lyman series is determined to be from a temporal and spatial region where the hydrodynamic parameters are essentially constant. This allows a single steady-state solution of FLY to be used to deduce the electron temperature and density, from the measured line ratios and linewidths, for comparison with the Thomson and shadowgraphy data. These measurements are found to agree well with time-dependent calculations, and provide further validation for the FLY calculations of the ionization and excitation balance for a K-shell aluminum plasma. We also discuss the possible application of this data as a benchmark for hydrodynamic simulations and ionization/excitation balance calculations.