Ultrafast X-ray Spectroscopy of Warm Dense Matter

Program Description

Warm Dense Matter physics (WDM) is a rapidly growing research field with broad application in planetary science, material science, and inertial confinement fusion.  Characterized by near solid densities and temperatures of ~10,000 K to 100,000K, WDM bridges the gap between plasma physics and condensed matter physics.  A complex interplay of physical phenomena make WDM difficult to model, so understanding WDM requires the guidance of detailed experimental data.  This talk will present the techniques and experiments performed at the Advanced Light Source on WDM isochorically heated by a femtosecond laser and studied by ultrafast x-ray absorption spectroscopy.  We will also present experiments performed at the Linac Coherent Light Source on x-ray heated WDM studied by x-ray emission spectroscopy.