Techniques

Compression techniques

A variety of techniques are available to compress macroscopic samples of matter to high pressures in excess of 100 GPa (1 million atmospheres), including:

• laser-driven mass ablation ("direct drive")
• thermal x-ray drive ("indirect drive")
• pulsed power ("magnetic drive")
• gas gun impactors
• diamond anvil cell [DAC] ("static" compression)

In some cases, combinations of the above can be fielded, such as laser drive of DAC-compressed samples. See also our facilities page.

Diagnostic and analysis techniques

• shock-wave impedance matching
• optical reflectivity and thermal emission spectroscopy
• ramp wave analysis
• x-ray absorption fine structure [XAFS] and x-ray absorption near-edge structure [XANES]
• x-ray diffraction [XRD]
• x-ray radiography
• proton radiography