Ultrafast Kα x-ray Thomson scattering from shock compressed lithium hydride

Spectrally and temporally resolved x-ray Thomson scattering using ultrafast Ti K alpha x rays has provided experimental validation for modeling of the compression and heating of shocked matter. The coalescence of two shocks launched into a solid density LiH target by a shaped 6 ns heater beam was observed from rapid heating to temperatures of 2.2 eV, enabling tests of shock timing models. Here, the temperature evolution of the target at various times during shock progression was characterized from the intensity of the elastic scattering component. The observation of scattering from plasmons, electron plasma oscillations, at shock coalescence indicates a transition to a dense metallic plasma state in LiH. From the frequency shift of the measured plasmon feature the electron density was directly determined with high accuracy, providing a material compression of a factor of 3 times solid density. The quality of data achieved in these experiments demonstrates the capability for single shot dynamic characterization of dense shock compressed matter. The conditions probed in this experiment are relevant for the study of the physics of planetary formation and to characterize inertial confinement fusion targets for experiments such as on the National Ignition Facility, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.