Ultrabright x-ray laser scattering for dynamic warm dense matter physics

Journal Article · Mon Mar 23 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · Nature Photonics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2015.41· OSTI ID:1176940

Fletcher, L. B. ^[1]; Lee, H. J. ^[2]; Doppner, T. ^[3]; Galtier, E. ^[2]; Nagler, B. ^[2]; Heimann, P. ^[2]; Fortmann, C. ^[4]; LePape, S. ^[3]; Mao, T. ^[3]; Millot, M. ^[5]; Pak, A. ^[3]; Turnbull, D. ^[3]; Chapman, D. A. ^[6]; Gericke, D. O. ^[7]; Vorberger, J. ^[8]; White, T. ^[9]; Gregori, G. ^[9]; Wei, M. ^[10]; Barbrel, B. ^[11]; Falcone, R. W. ^[11] ; Kao, C. -C. ^[2]; Nuhn, H. ^[2]; Welch, J. ^[2]; Zastrau, U. ^[12]; Neumayer, P. ^[13]; Hastings, J. B. ^[2]; Glenzer, S. H. ^[2]

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1. SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States); Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
2. SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)
3. Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
4. QuantumWise A/S, Koebenhavn (Denmark)
5. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
6. AWE plc, Reading (United Kingdom); Univ. of Warwick, Coventry (United Kingdom)
7. AWE plc, Reading (United Kingdom)
8. Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Dresden (Germany)
9. Univ. of Oxford, Oxford (United Kingdom)
10. General Atomics, San Diego, CA (United States)
11. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
12. SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States); Friedrich-Schiller-Univ., Jena (Germany)
13. GSI Helmhltzzentrum fur Schwerionenforschung GmbH, Darmstadt (Germany)

In megabar shock waves, materials compress and undergo a phase transition to a dense charged-particle system that is dominated by strong correlations and quantum effects. This complex state, known as warm dense matter, exists in planetary interiors and many laboratory experiments (for example, during high-power laser interactions with solids or the compression phase of inertial confinement fusion implosions). Here, we apply record peak brightness X-rays at the Linac Coherent Light Source to resolve ionic interactions at atomic (ångström) scale lengths and to determine their physical properties. Our in situ measurements characterize the compressed lattice and resolve the transition to warm dense matter, demonstrating that short-range repulsion between ions must be accounted for to obtain accurate structure factor and equation of state data. Additionally, the unique properties of the X-ray laser provide plasmon spectra that yield the temperature and density with unprecedented precision at micrometre-scale resolution in dynamic compression experiments.

• Research Organization: SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC)
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-76SF00515
• OSTI ID: 1176940
• Report Number(s): SLAC-PUB-16237
• Journal Information: Nature Photonics, Vol. 114, Issue 10; ISSN 1749-4885
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

MATSCI
laser-produced plasmas