Developing a platform for high-resolution phase contrast imaging of high pressure shock waves in matter

Abstract

Current and upcoming X-ray sources, such as the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC, USA), the SPring-8 Angstrom Compact Free Electron Laser (SACLA, Japan), or the X-ray Free Electron Laser (XFEL, Germany) will provide X-ray beams with outstanding properties.1, 2 Short and intense X-ray pulses of about 50 fs time duration and even shorter will push X-ray science to new frontiers such as, e. g., in high-resolution X-ray imaging, high-energy-density physics or in dynamical studies based on pump-probe techniques. Fast processes in matter often require high-resolution imaging capabilities either by magnified imaging in direct space or diffractive imaging in reciprocal space. In both cases highest resolutions require focusing the X-ray beam.3, 4 In order to further develop high-resolution imaging at free-electron laser sources we are planning a platform to carry out high-resolution phase contrast imaging experiments based on Beryllium compound refractive X-ray lenses (Be-CRLs) at the Matter in Extreme Conditions (MEC) endstation of the LCLS. The instrument provides all necessary equipment to induce high pressure shock waves by optical lasers. The propagation of a shock wave is then monitored with an X-ray Free Electron Laser (FEL) pulse by magnified phase contrast imaging. With the CRL optics, X-ray beam sizes in the sub-100nm range are expected, leading to a similar spatial resolution in the direct coherent projection image. The experiment combines different state-of-the art scientific techniques that are currently available at the LCLS. In this proceedings paper we describe the technical developments carried out at the LCLS in order to implement magnified X-ray phase contrast imaging at the MEC endstation.