Erlangen 2026 – scientific programme
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P: Fachverband Plasmaphysik
P 18: High Energy Density Physics III
P 18.2: Talk
Thursday, March 19, 2026, 16:45–17:00, KH 01.020
A Megajoule Experiment at an XFEL: High-repetition Rate XRTS Measurements in Shock Compressed Plastics — •Thomas Gawne1,2, Oliver S Humphries3, Tobias Dornheim2,1, and Thomas R Preston3 — 1CASUS, Görlitz, Germany — 2HZDR, Dresden, Germany — 3European XFEL, Schenefeld, Germany
The properties of plastics under laser compression are of broad importance due to their prevalence as ablators in shock-compression experiments and laser-driven inertial fusion energy schemes. Accurate measurements of their equation of state and electronic structure are therefore of paramount importance for predicting achievable conditions in laser-driven systems. Here we report on results from a recent experiment at the European XFEL, where the DiPOLE-100X laser was used to shock compress plastics at a repetition rate of 1 Hz with ∼30 J laser energy in 2ω. In the three day experiment, more than 34,000 laser shots were collected, and more than 1 MJ of laser energy fired at the targets. The systems were probed using simultaneous forward and backwards XRTS. Ultrahigh resolution measurements of the elastic feature in backscattering reveal the shock dynamics via the combined thermal Doppler broadening and shock-driven Doppler shift. Forward scattering measurements at multiple scattering angles show pronounced changes in the shape of the plasmon scattering between the different plastics, providing insights into the differences in their electronic properties and structures under shock compression. The setup and results presented here represent an important development for future laser compression experiments at XFEL facilities.
Keywords: Shock compression; X-ray Thomson Scattering; X-ray Free Electron Laser; Equation of State