Bragg diffraction using a 100ps 17.5 keV x-ray backlighter and the Bragg Diffraction Imager
A new diagnostic for measuring Bragg diffraction from a laser-driven crystal using a 100ps 17.5 kV x-ray backlighter source is designed and tested successfully at the Omega EP laser facility on static Mo and Ta single crystal samples using a Mo Ka backlighter. The Bragg Diffraction Imager (BDI) consists of a heavily shielded enclosure and a precisely positioned beam block, attached to the main enclosure by an Aluminum arm. Image plate is used as the x-ray detector. The diffraction lines from Mo and Ta <222> planes are clearly detected with a high signal-to-noise using the 17.5 keV and 19.6 keV characteristic lines generated by a petawatt-driven Mo foil. This technique will be applied to shock and ramp-loaded single crystals on the Omega EP laser. Pulsed x-ray diffraction of shock- and ramp-compressed materials is an exciting new technique that can give insight into the dynamic behavior of materials at ultra-high pressure not achievable by any other means to date. X-ray diffraction can be used to determine not only the phase and compression of the lattice at high pressure, but by probing the lattice compression on a timescale equal to the 3D relaxation time of the material, information about dislocation mechanics, including dislocation multiplication rate and velocity, can also be derived. Both Bragg, or reflection, and Laue, or transmission, diffraction have been developed for shock-loaded low-Z crystalline structures such as Cu, Fe, and Si using nano-second scale low-energy implosion and He-{alpha} x-ray backlighters. However, higher-Z materials require higher x-ray probe energies to penetrate the samples, such as in Laue, or probe deep enough into the target, as in the case of Bragg diffraction. Petawatt laser-generated K{alpha} x-ray backlighters have been developed for use in high-energy radiography of dense targets and other HED applications requiring picosecond-scale burst of hard x-rays. While short pulse lasers are very efficient at producing high-energy x-rays, the characteristic x-rays produced in these thin foil targets are superimposed on a broad bremsstrahlung background and can easily saturate a detector if careful diagnostic shielding and experimental geometry are not implemented. A new diagnostic has been designed to measure Bragg diffraction from laser-driven crystal targets using characteristic x-rays from a short-pulse laser backlighter on the Omega EP laser. The Bragg Diffraction Imager, or BDI, is a TIM-mounted instrument consisting of a heavily shielded enclosure made from 3/8-inch thick Heavymet (W-Fe-Ni alloy) and a precisely positioned beam bock, attached to the main enclosure by an Aluminum arm. The beam block is made of 1-inch thick, Al-coated Heavymet and serves to block the x-rays directly from the petawatt backlight, while allowing the diffraction x-rays from the crystal to pass to the enclosure. A schematic of the BDI is shown in Fig. 1a. Image plates are used as the x-ray detector and are loaded through the top of the diagnostic in an Aluminum, light-tight cartridge. The front of the enclosure can be fitted with various filters to maximize the diffraction signal-to-noise.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 1018012
- Report Number(s):
- LLNL-CONF-436071; TRN: US201113%%520
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Presented at: 18th Topical Conference on High-Temperature Plasma Diagnostics, Wildwood, NJ, United States, May 16 - May 20, 2010
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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