A Seeman-Bohlin geometry for high-resolution nanosecond x-ray diffraction measurements from shocked polycrystalline and amorphous materials

We report on a focusing x-ray diffraction geometry capable of high-resolution in situ lattice probing from dynamically loaded polycrystalline and amorphous materials. The Seeman-Bohlin-type camera presented here is ideally suited for time-resolved x-ray diffraction measurements performed on high energy multibeam laser platforms. Diffraction from several lattice planes of ablatively shock-loaded 25 mu m thick Cu foils was recorded on a focusing circle of diameter D = 100 mm with exceptional angular resolution limited only by the spectral broadening of the x-ray source. Excellent agreement was found between the density measured using x-ray diffraction and that inferred from Doppler velocimetry and the known shock Hugoniot of Cu. In addition, x-ray diffraction signal was captured from an amorphous material under static conditions. (C) 2009 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3230647]