Time dependent imaging of cylindrical shocks at the Pegasus facility

The pulsed power Pegasus facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory has been configured to drive cylindrically symmetric shocks into a load region containing multiple density regions. A series of experiments are being performed to permit the development of diagnostic techniques to characterize the spatial distribution and temporal dependence of the cylindrical shocks generated in a 4.5 cm diameter/spl times/2 cm thick "target" region. The loads utilized in the preliminary experiments contain multiple regions. Optically transmissive regions are being diagnosed with long pulse, 694 nm laser backlighting. Framing cameras and fast optically shuttered cameras are being developed for high resolution image capture. Pulsed X-ray sources permit characterization of material boundary regions through differential X-ray absorption in a radiographic geometry. The desire for multiple visible and X-ray images requires fast time response, electronic imaging techniques. Typical shock pressures and velocities of 300 Kbar and 5 mm//spl mu/s coupled with a desired spatial resolution of better than 5lp/mm dictate temporal resolution requirements on the order of 50 ns. The current status of the diagnostic development is described as well as possible directions for future improvements.