Hypervelocity launching and impact experiments on the Karlsruhe light ion facility KALIF

Abstract

The Karlsruhe Light Ion Facility KALIF is a 1.7 MV, 600 kA, 50 ns FWHM pulsed power accelerator delivering up to 40 kJ of proton beam energy to a 7- to 10-mm-diameter focal spot. With peak power densities up to ∼1 TW/cm2, and proton ranges in condensed matter of 10 to 20 μm, specific energy depositions of several MJ/g at deposition rates of the order of 100 TW/g are obtained. We have investigated the potential of KALIF as a shock wave generator in both, direct drive and impact experiments. In the following, a description of the facility, the ion sources, and of the experimental setup is given. Experimental results of ablative foil acceleration histories and on the uniformity will be presented as well as a simple model, which allows to explain details of the velocity profiles by the properties of the ion pulse. So far, we have accelerated aluminum foils of 10 to d 30 μm thickness to velocities beyond 12 km/s. Experiments using multilayer targets are under way, for which simulations predict velocities up to 20 km/s. Finally, some results of dynamic tensile strength measurements will be shown, in which strain rates up to 107s−1 under nanosecond load durations were realized.