Isentropic expansion of copper plasma in Mbar pressure range at “Luch” laser facility

We present experimental results on thermodynamic properties of dense copper plasma in Mbar pressure range. The laser facility “Luch” with laser intensity 1014 W/cm2 is used to compress copper up to ∼8 Mbar by a strong shock wave; subsequent expansion of copper plasma into Al, Ti, Sn allows us to obtain release isentropes of copper by the impedance–matching method. A theoretical analysis and quantum simulations show that in our experiments strongly coupled quantum plasma is generated.