In-situ x-ray diffraction was used to study the response of single crystal iron under shock conditions. Measurements of the response of [001] iron showed a uniaxial compression of the initially bcc lattice along the shock direction by up to 6% at 13 GPa. Above this pressure, the lattice responded with a further collapse of the lattice by 15-18% and a transformation to a hcp structure. The in-situ measurements are discussed and results summarized.

The first hohlraum experiments on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) using the first four laser beams have activated the indirect drive experimental capabilities and tested radiation temperature limits imposed by hohlraum plasma filling. Vacuum hohlraums have been irradiated with laser powers up to 6 TW, 1 ns to 9 ns long square pulses and energies of up to 17 kJ to activate several diagnostics, to study the hohlraum radiation temperature scaling with the laser power and hohlraum size, and to make contact with hohlraum experiments performed at the NOVA and Omega laser facilities. Furthermore, for a variety of hohlraum sizes and pulse lengths, the measured x-ray flux shows signatures of plasma filling that coincide with hard x-ray emission from plasma streaming out of the hohlraum. These observations agree with hydrodynamic simulations and with analytical modeling that includes hydrodynamic and coronal radiative losses. The modeling predicts radiation temperature limits on full NIF (1.8 MJ) that are significantly greater than required for ignition hohlraums.

Recently the first hohlraum experiments have been performed at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) in support of indirect drive Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) designs. The effects of laser beam smoothing by spectral dispersion (SSD) and polarization smoothing (PS) on the beam propagation in long scale gas-filled pipes has been studied at plasma scales as found in indirect drive gas filled ignition hohlraum designs. The long scale gas-filled target experiments have shown propagation over 7 mm of dense plasma without filamentation and beam break up when using full laser smoothing. Vacuum hohlraums have been irradiated with laser powers up to 6 TW, 1-9 ns pulse lengths and energies up to 17 kJ to activate several diagnostics, to study the hohlraum radiation temperature scaling with the laser power and hohlraum size, and to make contact with hohlraum experiments performed at the NOVA and Omega laser facilities. Subsequently, novel long laser pulse hohlraum experiments have tested models of hohlraum plasma filling and long pulse hohlraum radiation production. The validity of the plasma filling assessment in analytical models and in LASNEX calculations has been proven for the first time. The comparison of these results with modeling will be discussed.

In situ X-ray diffraction allows the determination of the structure of transient states of matter. We have used laser-plasma generated X-rays to study how single crystals of metals (copper and iron) react to uniaxial shock compression. We find that copper, as a face-centered-cubic material, allows rapid generation and motion of dislocations, allowing close to hydrostatic conditions to be achieved on sub-nanosecond timescales. Detailed molecular dynamics calculations provide novel information about the process, and point towards methods whereby the dislocation density might be measured during the passage of the shock wave itself. We also report on recent experiments where we have obtained diffraction images from shock-compressed single-crystal iron. The single crystal sample transforms to the hcp phase above a critical pressure, below which it appears to be uniaxially compressed bcc, with no evidence of plasticity. Above the transition threshold, clear evidence for the hcp phase can be seen in the diffraction images, and via a mechanism that is also consistent with recent multi-million atom molecular dynamics simulations that use the Voter-Chen potential. We believe these data to be of import, in that they constitute the first conclusive in situ evidence of the transformed structure of iron during the passage of a shock wave.

A transmission electron microscopy study of quasi-isentropic gas-gun loading (peak pressures between 18 GPa and 52 GPa) of [001] monocrystalline copper was carried out. The defect substructures at these different pressures were analyzed. Current experimental evidence suggests a deformation substructure that transitions from slip to twinning, where twinning occurs at the higher pressures ({approx}52 GPa), and heavily dislocated laths and dislocation cells take place at the intermediate and lower pressures. Evidence of stacking faults at the intermediate pressures was also found. Dislocation cell sizes decreased with increasing pressure and increased with distance away from the surface of impact. The results from the quasi-isentropic experiments are compared with that of flyer-plate and laser shock experiments carried out by Cao et al. [1] and Schneider et al. [2], respectively. The Preston-Tonks-Wallace and Zerilli-Armstrong constitutive descriptions are used to model both isentropic and shock compression experiments and predict the pressure at which the slip-twinning transition occurs in both cases. Both models predict a higher transition for isentropic then for shock experiments, and indeed, that twinning should not take place in the ICE experiments at the pressures investigated.

A transmission electron microscopy study of quasi-isentropic high-pressure loading (peak pressures between 18 GPa and 52 GPa) of polycrystalline and monocrystalline copper was carried out. Deformation mechanisms and defect substructures at different pressures were analyzed. Current evidence suggests a deformation substructure consisting of twinning at the higher pressures and heavily dislocated laths and dislocation cells at the intermediate and lower pressures, respectively. Evidence of stacking faults at the intermediate pressures was also found. Dislocation cell sizes decreased with increasing pressure and increased with distance away from the surface of impact.