X-ray radiographic measurements of hydrodynamic phenomena in radiation driven solid density material

Summary form only given. Time-resolved X-ray radiographic measurements at high photon energy (5-7 keV) have been used to study shock propagation, material motion, and turbulent shear layer growth in solid density plastic samples indirectly driven by X-rays using the Nova laser. The radiation-driven shock waves are directly observed by backlighting the sample with X-rays from a laser-produced plasma. The increase in sample areal density resulting from the passage of the shock makes it possible to measure the shock position and infer the material compression as a function of time. By doping a section of a sample with high-Z material (Br) for radiographic contrast, the shock-induced motion of the doped material is measured. Finally, by imbedding a metal wire in a plastic sample parallel to the direction of material motion, it was possible to study the shear flow that is created at the interface. In these experiments, the time-resolved radiographic measurements are made with either a slit-imager coupled to an X-ray streak camera or a pinhole camera coupled to a gated microchannel plate detector.