TARDIS-C: A target diagnostic for measuring material structure at high pressure

A goal of the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is to better understand solid matter behavior at extreme conditions. Diagnostic tools such as the Target Diffraction In-Situ (TARDIS) have been designed to record data of solid material compressed to tens of Mbars over short time scales. NIF drive beams (∼120 kJ) heat a carefully designed ablator to ramp compress the target to high pressure. A backlighter produces an x-ray source which is diffracted onto image plates through the compressed target. An unimpeded optical path allows Velocity Interferometer System for Any Reflector (VISAR) measurements to be recorded as the compression wave progresses through the target. To reduce the VISAR blast shield's exposure to debris and minimize contamination of the NIF chamber, a transparent barrier has been designed to contain debris within the TARDIS body. (paper)