Demonstration of 0.75 Gbar planar shocks in x-ray driven colliding foils

Abstract

We have directly observed 0.75\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.2 Gbar planar shocks in gold target foils impacted by ablatively driven gold flyer foils. The x-ray drive for the flyer foils was produced in a gold Hohlraum by ten beams of the Nova laser. The dynamic pressure inferred by shock velocity measurements is more than a factor of 7 greater than previous dynamic shocks produced in the laboratory and over a surface area significantly larger than most previous ultrahigh pressure experiments. The technique allows the laboratory investigation of equations of state in the gigabar regime.