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author Kluge, Thomas
Hirsch-Passicos, Arthur
Schulz, Jannis
Frost, Mungo
Galtier, Eric
Gauthier, Maxence
Grenzer, Jörg
Gutt, Christian
Huang, Lingen
Hübner, Uwe
Ikeya, Megan
Lee, Hae Ja
Khaghani, Dimitri
Martin, Willow Moon
Marré, Brian Edward
Nakatsutsumi, Motoaki
Ordyna, Paweł
Paschke-Brühl, Franziska-Luise
Pelka, Alexander
Randolph, Lisa
Schlenvoigt, Hans-Peter
Schoenwaelder, Christopher
Šmíd, Michal
Yang, Long
Schramm, Ulrich
Cowan, Thomas E.
author_facet Kluge, Thomas
Hirsch-Passicos, Arthur
Schulz, Jannis
Frost, Mungo
Galtier, Eric
Gauthier, Maxence
Grenzer, Jörg
Gutt, Christian
Huang, Lingen
Hübner, Uwe
Ikeya, Megan
Lee, Hae Ja
Khaghani, Dimitri
Martin, Willow Moon
Marré, Brian Edward
Nakatsutsumi, Motoaki
Ordyna, Paweł
Paschke-Brühl, Franziska-Luise
Pelka, Alexander
Randolph, Lisa
Schlenvoigt, Hans-Peter
Schoenwaelder, Christopher
Šmíd, Michal
Yang, Long
Schramm, Ulrich
Cowan, Thomas E.
contents Understanding how laser pulses compress solids into high-energy-density states requires diagnostics that simultaneously resolve macroscopic geometry and nanometer-scale structure. Here we present a combined X-ray imaging (XRM) and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) approach that bridges this diagnostic gap. Using the Matter in Extreme Conditions end station at LCLS, we irradiated 25-micrometer copper wires with 45-fs, 0.9-J, 800-nm pulses at 3.5e19 W/cm2 while probing with 8.2-keV XFEL pulses. XRM visualizes the evolution of ablation, compression, and inward-propagating fronts with about 200-nm resolution, while SAXS quantifies their nanometer-scale sharpness through the time-resolved evolution of scattering streaks. The joint analysis reveals that an initially smooth compression steepens into a nanometer-sharp shock front after roughly 18 ps, consistent with an analytical steepening model and hydrodynamic simulations. The front reaches a velocity of about 25 km/s and a lateral width of several tens of micrometers, demonstrating for the first time the direct observation of shock formation and decay at solid density with few-nanometer precision. This integrated XRM-SAXS method establishes a quantitative, multiscale diagnostic of laser-driven shocks in dense plasmas relevant to inertial confinement fusion, warm dense matter, and planetary physics.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2511_10127
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Microscopy X-ray Imaging enriched with Small Angle X-ray Scattering for few nanometer resolution reveals shock waves and compression in intense short pulse laser irradiation of solids
Kluge, Thomas
Hirsch-Passicos, Arthur
Schulz, Jannis
Frost, Mungo
Galtier, Eric
Gauthier, Maxence
Grenzer, Jörg
Gutt, Christian
Huang, Lingen
Hübner, Uwe
Ikeya, Megan
Lee, Hae Ja
Khaghani, Dimitri
Martin, Willow Moon
Marré, Brian Edward
Nakatsutsumi, Motoaki
Ordyna, Paweł
Paschke-Brühl, Franziska-Luise
Pelka, Alexander
Randolph, Lisa
Schlenvoigt, Hans-Peter
Schoenwaelder, Christopher
Šmíd, Michal
Yang, Long
Schramm, Ulrich
Cowan, Thomas E.
Plasma Physics
Understanding how laser pulses compress solids into high-energy-density states requires diagnostics that simultaneously resolve macroscopic geometry and nanometer-scale structure. Here we present a combined X-ray imaging (XRM) and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) approach that bridges this diagnostic gap. Using the Matter in Extreme Conditions end station at LCLS, we irradiated 25-micrometer copper wires with 45-fs, 0.9-J, 800-nm pulses at 3.5e19 W/cm2 while probing with 8.2-keV XFEL pulses. XRM visualizes the evolution of ablation, compression, and inward-propagating fronts with about 200-nm resolution, while SAXS quantifies their nanometer-scale sharpness through the time-resolved evolution of scattering streaks. The joint analysis reveals that an initially smooth compression steepens into a nanometer-sharp shock front after roughly 18 ps, consistent with an analytical steepening model and hydrodynamic simulations. The front reaches a velocity of about 25 km/s and a lateral width of several tens of micrometers, demonstrating for the first time the direct observation of shock formation and decay at solid density with few-nanometer precision. This integrated XRM-SAXS method establishes a quantitative, multiscale diagnostic of laser-driven shocks in dense plasmas relevant to inertial confinement fusion, warm dense matter, and planetary physics.
title Microscopy X-ray Imaging enriched with Small Angle X-ray Scattering for few nanometer resolution reveals shock waves and compression in intense short pulse laser irradiation of solids
topic Plasma Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.10127