Three-dimensional coherent X-ray diffraction imaging of a ceramic nanofoam: determination of structural deformation mechanisms

Ultra-low density polymers, metals, and ceramic nanofoams are valued for their high strength-to-weight ratio, high surface area and insulating properties ascribed to their structural geometry. We obtain the labrynthine internal structure of a tantalum oxide nanofoam by X-ray diffractive imaging. Finite element analysis from the structure reveals mechanical properties consistent with bulk samples and with a diffusion limited cluster aggregation model, while excess mass on the nodes discounts the dangling fragments hypothesis of percolation theory.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, 30 reference

Densification and residual stress induced by CO2 laserbased mitigation of SiO2 surfaces

ABSTRACT Knowing the ultimate surface morphology resulting from CO 2 laser mitigation of induced laser damage is important both for determining adequate treatment protocols, and for preventing deleterious intensification upon subsequent illumination of downstream optics. Physical effects such as evaporation, viscous flow and densification can strongly affect the final morphology of the treated site. Evaporation is a strong function of temperature and will play a leading role in determining pit shapes when the evaporation rate is large, both because of material loss and redeposition. Viscous motion of the hot molten material during heating and cooling can redistribute material due to surface tension gradients (Marangoni effect) and vapor recoil pressure effects. Less well known, perhaps, is that silica can densify as a result of structural relaxation, to a degree depending on the local thermal history. The specific volume shrinkage due to structural relaxation can be mistaken for material loss due to evaporation. Unlike evaporation, however, local density change can be reversed by post annealing. All of these effects must be taken into account to adequately describe the final morphology and optical properties of single and multiple-pass mitigation protocols. We have investigated, experimentally and theoretically, the significance of such densification on residual stress and under what circumstances it can compete with evaporation in determining the ultimate post treatment surface shape. In general, understanding final surface configurations requires taking all these factors including local structural relaxation densification, and therefore the thermal history, into account. We find that surface depressions due to densification can dominate surface morphology in the non-evaporative regime when peak temperatures are below 2100K

Shock Hugoniot of Single Crystal Copper

The shock Hugoniot of single crystal copper is reported for stresses below 66 GPa. Symmetric impact experiments were used to measure the Hugoniots of three different crystal orientations of copper, [100], [110], [111]. The photonic doppler velocimetry (PDV) diagnostic was adapted into a very high precision time of arrival detector for these experiments. The measured Hugoniots along all three crystal directions were nearly identical to the experimental Hugoniot for polycrystalline Cu. The predicted orientation dependence of the Hugoniot from MD calculations was not observed. At the lowest stresses, the sound speed in Cu was extracted from the PDV data. The measured sound speeds are in agreement with values calculated from the elastic constants for Cu

An Assessment of Molecular Dynamic Force Fields for Silica for Use in Simulating Laser Damage Mitigation

We compare force fields (FF's) that have been used in molecular dynamic (MD) simulations of silica in order to assess their applicability for use in simulating IR-laser damage mitigation. Although pairwise FF?s obtained by fitting quantum mechanical calculations such as the BKS and CHIK potentials have been shown to reproduce many of the properties of silica including the stability of silica polymorphs and the densification of the liquid, we show that melting temperatures and fictive temperatures are much too high. Softer empirical force fields give liquid and glass properties at experimental temperatures but may not predict all properties important to laser mitigation experiments

Modeling planetary interiors in laser based experiments using shockless compression

X-ray diffraction is a widely used technique for measuring the crystal structure of a compressed material. Recently, short pulse x-ray sources have been used to measure the crystal structure in-situ while a sample is being dynamically loaded. To reach the ultra high pressures that are unattainable in static experiments at temperatures lower than using shock techniques, shockless quasi-isentropic compression is required. Shockless compression has been demonstrated as a successful means of accessing high pressures. The National Ignition Facility (NIF), which will begin doing high pressure material science in 2010, it should be possible to reach over 2 TPa quasi-isentropically. This paper outlines how x-ray diffraction could be used to study the crystal structure in laser driven, shocklessly compressed targets the same way it has been used in shock compressed samples. A simulation of a shockless laser driven iron is used to generate simulated diffraction signals. And recently experimental results are presented

High-pressure, High-strain-rate Materials Effects

A 3-year LDRD-ER project to study the response of shocked materials at high pressure and high strain rate has concluded. This project involved a coordinated effort to study single crystal samples that were shock loaded by direct laser irradiation, in-situ and post-recovery measurements, and molecular dynamics and continuum modeling. Laser-based shock experiments have been conducted to study the dynamic response of materials under shock loading materials at a high strain-rate. Experiments were conducted at pressures above the published Hugoniot Elastic Limit (HEL). The residual deformation present in recovered samples was characterized by transmission electron microscopy, and the response of the shocked lattice during shock loading was measured by in-situ x-ray diffraction. Static film and x-ray streak cameras recorded x-rays diffracted from lattice planes of Cu and Si both parallel and perpendicular to the shock direction. Experiments were also conducted using a wide-angle detector to record x-rays diffracted from multiple lattice planes simultaneously. This data showed uniaxial compression of Si (100) along the shock direction and 3-dimensional compression of Cu (100). In the case of the Si diffraction, there was a multiple wave structure observed. We present results of shocked Si and Cu obtained with a new large angle diffraction diagnostic, and discuss the results in the context of detailed molecular dynamics simulations and post-processing

DIRECT OBSERVATION OF THE ALPHA-EPSILON TRANSITION IN SHOCKED SINGLE CRYSTAL IRON

In-situ x-ray diffraction was used to study the response of single crystal iron under shock conditions. Measurements of the response of [001] iron showed a uniaxial compression of the initially bcc lattice along the shock direction by up to 6% at 13 GPa. Above this pressure, the lattice responded with a further collapse of the lattice by 15-18% and a transformation to a hcp structure. The in-situ measurements are discussed and results summarized

PICOSECOND X-RAY DIFFRACTION FROM LASER-SHOCKED COPPER AND IRON

In situ X-ray diffraction allows the determination of the structure of transient states of matter. We have used laser-plasma generated X-rays to study how single crystals of metals (copper and iron) react to uniaxial shock compression. We find that copper, as a face-centered-cubic material, allows rapid generation and motion of dislocations, allowing close to hydrostatic conditions to be achieved on sub-nanosecond timescales. Detailed molecular dynamics calculations provide novel information about the process, and point towards methods whereby the dislocation density might be measured during the passage of the shock wave itself. We also report on recent experiments where we have obtained diffraction images from shock-compressed single-crystal iron. The single crystal sample transforms to the hcp phase above a critical pressure, below which it appears to be uniaxially compressed bcc, with no evidence of plasticity. Above the transition threshold, clear evidence for the hcp phase can be seen in the diffraction images, and via a mechanism that is also consistent with recent multi-million atom molecular dynamics simulations that use the Voter-Chen potential. We believe these data to be of import, in that they constitute the first conclusive in situ evidence of the transformed structure of iron during the passage of a shock wave

Lawson criterion for ignition exceeded in an inertial fusion experiment

For more than half a century, researchers around the world have been engaged in attempts to achieve fusion ignition as a proof of principle of various fusion concepts. Following the Lawson criterion, an ignited plasma is one where the fusion heating power is high enough to overcome all the physical processes that cool the fusion plasma, creating a positive thermodynamic feedback loop with rapidly increasing temperature. In inertially confined fusion, ignition is a state where the fusion plasma can begin "burn propagation" into surrounding cold fuel, enabling the possibility of high energy gain. While "scientific breakeven" (i.e., unity target gain) has not yet been achieved (here target gain is 0.72, 1.37 MJ of fusion for 1.92 MJ of laser energy), this Letter reports the first controlled fusion experiment, using laser indirect drive, on the National Ignition Facility to produce capsule gain (here 5.8) and reach ignition by nine different formulations of the Lawson criterion