Development and Operation of a Sub Pico-Second X-Ray Diffraction Experimental Station for High-Pressure Science

Abstract

In this article, a new experimental station is described. The station enables ultrafast X-ray diffraction (XRD) for dynamically compressed material as high as 100 GPa with temporal resolution less than ps. Such ultrashort resolution is obtained by an X-ray free electron laser (XFEL) whose pulse width is less than 10 fs. The station can realize in situ observations of material deformations such as shock wave propagation, formation of shock waves, plastic deformation, and phase transition. The applications of the station to dynamical compression opens unique path ways to explore kinetics of material deformation in context of the condensed matter physics.