Novel diagnostic of shock fronts in solid materials

We performed an experiment using high-energy protons and hard X-rays to characterize \textit{in situ }the spatial and temporal evolution of a laser-driven shock propagating through a solid material. Shock strength was inferred from shock velocity measurements using a self-emission diagnostic. The transverse high-energy proton beam was generated using a short intense laser beam on a gold backlighter foil. Due to high level scattering, proton beam was only used on a low Z target (CH or C foam). For higher Z material (aluminum), an hard x-ray ``1D'' backlighter (K-$\alpha $ source of Molybdenum at 17 keV) was obtained using small-edge-on foils. Time evolution of a shock front propagating into both materials C foam and aluminum will be presented.