A pulsed power facility for studying the warm dense matter regime

A pulsed power facility has been designed for studying the warm dense matter regime. It is based on the pulsed Joule heating technique, originally proposed by Korobenko and Rakhel [Int. J. Thermophy. 20, 1257 (1999)], where a 3.96 mu F capacitor bench is used for inducing a solid to plasma phase transition to metallic foils confined into a sapphire cell. The first experiments have been conducted on pure aluminum. Experimental data have been collected using electrical and optical diagnostics. Direct measurements of tension, current, pressure, and particle velocity allow us to evaluate the equation of state (EOS) and the DC conductivity of expanded aluminum. The results are compared to hydrodynamic simulations performed with various EOS models. As a result, collected data on aluminum highlight the relevance of our experimental procedure for improving EOS modeling in the warm dense matter regime.