Suggested Citation:
"Appendix B: Tools of High Energy Density Science." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Fundamental Research in High Energy Density Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/26728.
This appendix is intended as a brief introduction to the experimental and computational tools of high energy density science, with a summary of capabilities in each case.
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix B: Tools of High Energy Density Science." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Fundamental Research in High Energy Density Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/26728.
to 0.1-1 TPa, 103-104 K (0.1-1 eV) continuous to pulsed heating; compression between points of diamonds, arbitrary duration; density measured to 0.1-1 percent, pressure to 1-10 percent
FIGURE B-1 Schematic cross section (left) of diamond anvils compressing a sample (orange) contained inside a gasket. Samples may be as small as 1-5 µm and as large as 0.5-2 mm across, with thicknesses of about 1 µm-1 mm. Because they are small in size (right), diamond-anvil cells can fit inside many instruments, including cooling and heating chambers.
SOURCES: (Left) Courtesy of H.P. Scott. (Right) Courtesy of N. Yao, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix B: Tools of High Energy Density Science." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Fundamental Research in High Energy Density Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/26728.
to 0.1-1 TPa, 104 K (1 eV) range over 0.1-1 µs mechanical impact at up to 1-10 km/s, planar compression shock, multiple-shock, ramp loading; density, pressure measured to 0.1-1 percent
FIGURE B-2 (Left) Two-stage light gas gun. (Right) Schematic of two-stage light-gas gun in use. Samples are typically millimeters to centimeters in size.
SOURCES: (Left) Courtesy of Los Alamos National Laboratory. (Right) W.J. Nellis, S. Weir, and A.C. Mitchell, 1999, “Minimum Metallic Conductivity of Fluid Hydrogen at 140 GPa (1.4 Mbar),” Physical Review B 59(5), http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.59.3434, reprinted with permission. Copyright 1999 by the American Physical Society.
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix B: Tools of High Energy Density Science." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Fundamental Research in High Energy Density Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/26728.
to 1-2 TPa, 104-105 K (1-10 eV) range over 0.1-1 µs mechanical impact to 10 km/s, or magnetic compression (planar); shock, multiple-shock, ramp loading; density, pressure measured to 1 percent
to PPa, 107-109 K (1-100 keV) range over 10-100 ns magnetic compression (cylindrical shock); density, pressure calculated to 1-10 percent
FIGURE B-3 (Left) Z pulsed-power facility, shown in action at Sandia National Laboratories, is 33 m (110 ft.) across. (Right) Schematic cross section of Z pulsed-power machine, with red dashed square indicating location of the sample assembly at the center of the machine. Samples are typically millimeters to centimeters in size.
SOURCES: (Left) Courtesy of R. Montoya, Sandia National Laboratories, https://www.flickr.com/photos/departmentofenergy/8056998596. (Right) N. Bennett, D.R. Welch, C.A. Jennings, et al., 2019, “Current Transport and Loss Mechanisms in the Z Accelerator,” Physical Review Accelerators and Beams 22:120401. CC BY 4.0.
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix B: Tools of High Energy Density Science." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Fundamental Research in High Energy Density Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/26728.
Dynamic compression to 100 TPa, 107 K range to 100 TPa, 105 K (10 eV) range over 10-50 ns shock, multiple shock or ramp loading (planar); pre-compression; density, pressure measured to 1 percent
to 100 TPa, 106 K (10 eV) range over 1-10 ns laser shock or ramp (spherical compression); density, pressure measured to 1-10 percent
to PPa, 107-109 K (1-100 keV) range over 1-10 ns laser shock (spherical); density, pressure calculated to 5-10 percent
FIGURE B-4 Schematic of the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, with light from two laser bays (top and bottom at left) directed into the spherical target chamber (right). The building is larger than 3 football fields placed side-by side.
SOURCE: Courtesy of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix B: Tools of High Energy Density Science." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Fundamental Research in High Energy Density Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/26728.
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix B: Tools of High Energy Density Science." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Fundamental Research in High Energy Density Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/26728.
FIGURE B-6 Image of a laser-driven shock-compression experiment at the University of Rochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics. The target is a diamond-anvil cell that is holding a sample already at high pressures, to be further compressed by the laser shock.
SOURCE: B. Bishop, 2018, “First Experimental Evidence for Superionic Ice,” https://www.llnl.gov/news/first-experimental-evidence-superionic-ice. Image by M. Millot/E. Kowaluk/J.Wickboldt/LLNL/ LLE/NIF.
THEORY AND SIMULATIONS
High-performance computers, like those at Los Alamos National Laboratory (see Figure B-7) and in other National Nuclear Security Administration laboratories, enable researchers to carry out a variety of simulations, addressing multiple properties of matter at extreme conditions, including the following:
Quantum mechanical simulations
Density Functional Theory (DFT), pseudopotentials at low/warm T
First Principles Molecular Dynamics (MD) and path integral at warm/high T
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix B: Tools of High Energy Density Science." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Fundamental Research in High Energy Density Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/26728.
FIGURE B-7 High-performance computers, such as this on at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, support theory, modeling, and simulation in high energy density science.
SOURCE: Los Alamos National Laboratory, “Radical Supercomputing,” https://www.lanl.gov/science-innovation/features/radical-supercomputing.php.
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix B: Tools of High Energy Density Science." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Fundamental Research in High Energy Density Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/26728.
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix B: Tools of High Energy Density Science." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Fundamental Research in High Energy Density Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/26728.
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix B: Tools of High Energy Density Science." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Fundamental Research in High Energy Density Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/26728.
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix B: Tools of High Energy Density Science." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Fundamental Research in High Energy Density Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/26728.
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix B: Tools of High Energy Density Science." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Fundamental Research in High Energy Density Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/26728.
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix B: Tools of High Energy Density Science." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Fundamental Research in High Energy Density Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/26728.
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix B: Tools of High Energy Density Science." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Fundamental Research in High Energy Density Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/26728.
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix B: Tools of High Energy Density Science." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Fundamental Research in High Energy Density Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/26728.
High energy density (HED) science has critical applications for society from fusion energy to sustaining the US nuclear deterrent, while also contributing to broader scientific questions such as understanding planets and their origins.
The next decade of HED science will be instrumental to growing our understanding and in the development of new technologies and processes. Fundamental Research in High Energy Density Science identifies key challenges and science questions for the field for the coming decade and proposes ways to address them.
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Fundamental Research in High Energy Density Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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