Combined Phase Contrast Imaging and Small-Angle X-Ray Scattering diagnostic of relativistic plasmas at the High Energy Density instrument at European XFEL

The successful commissioning of the ultra-short pulse high-intensity ReLaX laser at the HED instrument at euXFEL, provides new unique opportunities in the plasma and high-field physics fields. ReLaX is a double CPA Ti:Sa laser capable of delivering up to 300 TW pulses on target. In the first commissioning phase, 100 TW pulses were used, reaching intensities up to 10²⁰ W/cm².

Small-Angle X-Ray Scattering (SAXS) without the need of a beamstop was first commissioned at HED in September 2019. Two highly annealed pyrolytic graphite (HAPG) crystals were used to reflect the SAXS photons onto a detector while allowing the main XFEL beam to go through.

In April and May 2021, Small Angle X-Ray Scattering and Phase Contrast Imaging (PCI) were simultaneously demonstrated in pump-probe experiments at HED in a community experiment involving 15 institutions from all over the world. In this talk we will present the preliminary results of this community experiment probing ultrafast phenomena in a wide array of target configurations: hole boring in wires, shockwave generation in CH blocks, buried heating of a wire inside a CH medium, foam ionization and collective effects in heated foils.