Micron-Scale Colliding Jet Liquid Targets for the ZEUS Laser Facility

There is a growing interest in using thin liquid film targets for high energy density experiments. Liquid films can serve as approximately solid density targets without generating as much debris as solid films. Liquid films also allow for more rapid shot rates at pulsed laser facilities, as they eliminate the need for tape rolls or similar mechanical repositioning that solid targets require. However, high power laser facilities such as ZEUS require vacuum conditions after compression, which poses a number of technical challenges for liquid targets. In this project, an experimental setup was built to generate liquid sheets approximately 1 micron in thickness by colliding two jets of high pressure fluid, and the resulting sheets were characterized. In particular, width, height, and qualitative stability were measured using shadowgraphy. The supporting infrastructure to run the setup in a mild vacuum were also developed, including a heater and liquid evacuation system. Stable sheets of a variety of sizes were generated using both water and ethylene glycol.