Ion Beam Driven Isochoric Heating on Texas Petawatt and Trident Laser Facilities

The results of several experimental campaigns at the Texas Petawatt and Trident laser facilities on isochoric heating of solids and foams to warm dense matter conditions are presented.

At the Texas Petawatt Laser Facility, we used the f/40 beamline of the petawatt laser to illuminate 5mm Au foils to drive large numbers of 1-20MeV protons via TNSA. The proton beam then heats a secondary target (Al foil or carbon foam). The time-dependent brightness temperature of the secondary target is measured by a streaked optical pyrometer, which images the rear surface of the secondary target. We have observed peak brightness temperatures from 1-20eV, with a heating time of ~20ps. We have simulated the heating of these targets in the radiation-hydrodynamics codes HYADES and RAGE.

In experiments at the Trident laser facility, the secondary target contains a high Z and a low Z material arranged to make a sharp interface. It is heated isochorically to ~2eV by laser accelerated Al ions. This target is similarly diagnosed with time-resolved pyrometry while the evolution of the high-Z/low-Z interface is measured with an X-ray framing camera. We have simulated the heating and expansion of these materials in RAGE coupled to the SESAME equation of state tables.