USA As Represented by Secretary of the Navy

Allan Hauer

Robert R Whitlock

Justin S Wark

A method and apparatus is disclosed for measuring the lattice parameters of single crystal material while that material is undergoing a transient shock wave. In a first embodiment, a first target is located at a preselected position in space with respect to a single crystal to be measured. A first laser beam pulse is transmitted through a beam block to the crystal to produce a transient shock wave in part of the crystal. A second laser beam pulse, synchronized to the first laser beam pulse, is transmitted to the first target to cause the first target to produce first and second sets of x-rays which are Bragg-diffracted from shocked and unshocked atomic planes of the crystal as the crystal is undergoing the shock wave. A first x-ray detector records the positions of the first and second sets of Bragg-diffracted x-rays to provide a first measurement of the lattice parameters of the crystal. In a second embodiment, a third laser beam pulse, synchronized to the second laser beam pulse, is transmitted to a second target to cause the second target to produce third and fourth sets of x-rays which are Bragg-diffracted from shocked and unshocked atomic planes of the crystal as the crystal is undergoing the shocke wave. A second x-ray detector records the positions of the third and fourth sets of Bragg-diffracted x-rays to provide a second measurement of the lattice parameters of the crystal.

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Los Alamos, NM, United States of America

Allan Hauer