Ultrafast X-Ray Diffraction of Zirconium and Aluminum – Observing Phase Transitions, Ablation Depths and Residual Temperatures

Harry Radousky

Deputy Division Leader for the Materials Science Division
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Seminar Information

Seminar Series
Energy: Joint Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Dept & Center for Energy Research

Seminar Date - Time
November 6, 2024, 11:00 am
-
12:00

Seminar Location
Hybrid: In Person & Zoom (connection link below)

Engineering Building Unit 2 (EBU2)
Room 479 (4th Floor, through hallway doors)

Seminar Recording Available: Please contact seminar coordinator, Jake Blair at (j1blair@ucsd.edu)

Harry Radousky

Abstract

The availability of pulsed x rays on short timescales has opened up new avenues of research in the physics and chemistry of shocked materials. The continued installation of shock platforms such as gas guns and high power lasers placed at beamline x-ray facilities has advanced our knowledge of materials shocked to extreme conditions of pressure and temperature. In this seminar I will discuss our data on shocked zirconium and aluminum  taken at the Matter in Extreme Conditions (MEC) beamline at the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS). The topics will range from observing shock melting on the 10s of picosecond time scale, solid-solid phase transitions, direct observation of laser ablation depths and residual temperatures at time delays ranging from 5 to 75 ns after being driven by a 120-ps short-pulse laser.

Speaker Bio

Dr. Harry Radousky is currently the Deputy Division Leader for the Materials Science Division at LLNL. He has published over 120 papers in the areas of magnetism, superconductivity, high pressure physics, optical materials, energy harvesting, and cold-spray of thermoelectric materials. Administratively at LLNL, he has previously served as Deputy Director for the University Relations Program, Division Leader for Recruiting Programs, founding Director of the LLNL Materials Research Institute and Director of Lab Collaborations at UCOP. Dr. Radousky has also spent time on assignment at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab in their Technology Transfer Department and as a Visiting Scientist in the Illinois Applied Research Institute the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He holds an adjunct appointment as Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Davis, and since 1996 has periodically taught a freshman seminar on the Physics of Baseball.