Mach wave driver for ultra-high pressure plasma equation of state measurements

Equation of state models are generally unconstrained by experimental data at the tens of terapascal pressure regime, because of the difficulty of generating these conditions in the laboratory. We will present progress toward developing such a drive platform, using large-scale NIF and Omega laser facilities and taking advantage of the pressure amplification in a Mach stem that forms upon convergence of shock waves in a cone. We will present equation of state data from shock speed measurements and impedance matching in Au samples compressed to nearly 50 TPa.