Progress in Time-Resolved X-ray Diffraction with Laser Compression at the National Ignition Facility (NIF)

We report on progress in the development of an experimental platform to measure x-ray diffraction at several times during a single laser-driven dynamic compression experiment.

The platform consists of a laser-driven helium-alpha x-ray source, a dual-function target that both holds the physics package and acts as a shield to protect the x-ray detector, and hCMOS sensors with integration times as small as 1-2 ns. A developmental instrument that includes two hCMOS sensors, each collecting four images over twelve ns, has been tested on fifteen NIF experiments.

 

We present preliminary diffraction data across a laser driven phase transition. We discuss data quality, ongoing challenges, and improvements to both detector and target.

 

This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344,  LLNL-ABS-845172.