Single-shot X-ray phase-contrast imaging of dense plasmas

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The investigation of laser-driven shock phenomena is a topical field of research of matter at extreme conditions. Within this project, we will investigate phenomena like laser-driven blast waves interacting with dense obstacles, low-entropy compression using reflecting shocks and studies of radiative preheat in laser-shock experiments and rapid radiation heating as a means to generate high density matter states. For dense plasma, visible photons give access to the surface of the matter distribution only, while X-rays offer the opportunity to image the 3D morphology of the matter distribution. In the case of small density variation as typically the case in laboratory experiments, X-ray phase-contrast enables higher image contrast than standard X-ray attenuation. In this project we will investigate grating-based X-ray phase-contrast methods for the imaging of the above mentioned laser-driven shock phenomena at the high power laser PHELIX at GSI. Challenging aspects are the stability and alignment of the imaging system, the optimization of the Talbot parameters for moiré imaging and the image analysis. Simulations will be performed to generate realistic density distributions, to propagate X-rays through such targets and to simulate image signatures. The comparison of simulated and measured data will be employed to quantify the results.