In new experiments at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL’s) National Ignition Facility, scientists measured the extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) of copper to probe its temperature under extreme pressure. The research appears in the journal Nature Communications.
Dynamic compression experiments at high-energy-density laser facilities have expanded the frontier for studying material responses under extreme pressures, making a possible comparison with theoretical predictions under a wide range of conditions, including those relevant for planetary science and inertial confinement fusion.
However, the temperature of the compressed materials has been largely unknown, or relied on models and simulations, due to lack of diagnostics under these challenging conditions.