Isochoric Heating and Dynamic Compression Experiments using Pulsed Power at Advanced Light Sources

by Dr Jergus Strucka (Imperial College, London, UK)

Tuesday 10 Jun 2025, 13:00 → 14:00 Europe/Berlin

XHV / Auditorium (European XFEL)

Dynamic compression experiments at XFELs and synchrotrons are commonly performed using high-power pulsed lasers and gas guns. High-current pulsed power systems, capable of delivering electrical currents of ~100 kA in ~100 ns into cm-scale samples, offer a very compact (1 m³) and complementary capability that can deliver >1 kJ of electrical energy within 10–100 ns in experimental hutches as a non-permanent installation.

Pulsed power enables studies of complex hydrodynamics—e.g., suppression techniques for the Richtmyer-Meshkov instability—that require driving large samples currently inaccessible to most pulsed lasers due to their limited size. The pressure waves generated by pulsed power techniques can have arbitrary geometries, including cylindrical and spherical convergence. Additionally, high-current discharges allow probing of electrical phenomena relevant to some inertial fusion energy schemes, such as the electrothermal instability or magnetized plasma physics.

In this talk, I will present a summary of our recent results fielding a portable pulsed power system at the European XFEL and the LCLS to image instability development in various fusion-relevant scenarios, as well as the complementary experiments that initiated this journey at the European Synchrotron ID19 and ID24.