Laboratory Technician Support: Shock Wave Experiments in Geophysics

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This award will provide five years of stable funding to support a senior laboratory manager for the Caltech Lindhurst Laboratory of Experimental Geophysics. The Lindhurst Lab is dedicated to research into the interiors of the Earth and planets and the results of hypervelocity impacts on their surfaces, using laboratory scale impact experiments. The lab operates several large guns that can accelerate projectiles to speeds from hundreds to several thousand meters per second (that is, up to 17,000 miles per hour). When these projectiles hit their targets, observations of the resulting shock waves or of material recovered after the shock are used to probe both the process of impact itself and the properties of geological or technological materials under extreme compression. In some cases, these methods and the actual materials under study are relevant to both national and planetary defense applications. The senior laboratory manager position will enable recruitment and long-term retention of an expert staff member able to maintain continuous memory of laboratory methods, ensure safety, train students and postdoctoral researchers, and plan upgrades and maintenance.Within the time span of this award, the funded technician will dedicate efforts to a number of methods. First, an upgrade of the laboratory vacuum system to prepare the gun target chambers for shots in much less time. Second, transition from traditional machining to additive machining (3-D printing) for as many expendable parts as possible. Third, design, installation and commissioning of a new Photonic Doppler Velocimeter recently funded by the Defense Department's Office of Naval Research. Fourth, recalibration of our high-speed optical pyrometer for accurate dynamic temperature measurements. Fifth, design and testing of improved recovery experiments combining graded density impactors and impedance-matched sample chambers to achieve new pressure-temperature paths and better preservation of high-pressure phases.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.