New experimental platform to study high density laser-compressed matter

We have developed a new experimental platform at the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) which combines simultaneous angularly and spectrally resolved x-ray scattering measurements. This technique offers a new insights on the structural and thermodynamic properties of warm dense matter. The < 50 fs temporal duration of the x-ray pulse provides near instantaneous snapshots of the dynamics of the compression. We present a proof of principle experiment for this platform to characterize a shock-compressed plastic foil. We observe the disappearance of the plastic semi-crystal structure and the formation of a compressed liquid ion-ion correlation peak. The plasma parameters of shock-compressed plastic can be measured as well, but requires an averaging over a few tens of shots. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.