Experimental Study of Highly Compressed Iron Using Laser Driven Shocks

Experiments with lasers have recently provided important improvements in our knowledge of highly compressed matter (in particular, Equation Of State). We present recent results on iron which are relevant to planetary physics. We measured the free surface velocity of the compressed iron by using a VISAR diagnostic, and the shock velocity through step targets on the same shot. An absolute EOS is then deduced for pressures 1-7 Mbar. The experiments have been performed at the LULI laboratory of the Ecole Polytechnique.