Laser-driven shocks in precompressed water samples

We report experimental measurements of the equation of state (EOS) of water with laser-driven shock waves. The water samples are precompressed using diamond anvil cells (DAC) to initial pressures ranging from 1 to 6 kbar. The shock is formed into a flat, 100 μm thick diamond and transmitted into a 25 μm thick quartz plate, which we use as a reference material for impedence mismatch. Two VISAR interferometric diagnostics allow the measurement of the shock velocity into both quartz and water. The light emitted by the sample is collected in the wavelength range 600 ± 12.5 nm, and imaged onto a calibrated streak camera, which measures the equivalent black body temperature of the shocked sample. A few points were obtained, five of which show reliable measurements of pressure, density and temperature of water. The results agree with the Sesame tables [7] when taking into account experimental uncertainties.