The combination of high-power laser and synchrotron X-ray pulses allows us to observe material responses under shock compression and release states at the crystal structure on a nanosecond time scale. A higher-power Nd:glass laser system for laser shock experiments was installed as a shock driving source at the NW14A beamline of PF-AR, KEK, Japan. It had a maximum pulse energy of 16 J, a pulse duration of 12 ns and a flat-top intensity profile on the target position. The shock-induced deformation dynamics of polycrystalline aluminium was investigated using synchrotron-based time-resolved X-ray diffraction (XRD) under laser-induced shock. The shock pressure reached up to about 17 GPa with a strain rate of at least 4.6 × 107 s-1 and remained there for nanoseconds. The plastic deformation caused by the shock-wave loading led to crystallite fragmentation. The preferred orientation of the polycrystalline aluminium remained essentially unchanged during the shock compression and release processes in this strain rate. The newly established time-resolved XRD experimental system can provide useful information for understanding the complex dynamic compression and release behaviors.
Keywords: crystallite fragmentation; deformation dynamics; laser-induced shock; shock compression; time-resolved X-ray diffraction.