Modeling of EOS and Ion Coupling Experiments on NDCX-II*

The Neutralized Drift Compression Experiment II (NDCX-II) is an induction accelerator currently under construction at LBNL, scheduled for completion by March, 2012. The baseline design for NDCX-II will accelerate $\sim $0.03 $\mu $C of singly charged Li ions to 1.2 MeV (with planned upgrades up to 3.1 MeV), delivered in sub-ns pulses with sub-mm rms beam radii. The beam is predicted to heat metal foils several microns thick in a timescale comparable to the hydrodynamic expansion timescale of the target for experiments that infer material properties from measurements of the rarefaction wave. Experiments using metallic foam targets several tens of microns thick will infer ion energy coupling into kinetic energy of fluid flow. Geometries with multiple layers may be used to adiabatically compress target materials. We have carried out detailed hydrodynamic simulations of targets for several configurations, exploring how optical intensity measurements (from IR to UV), laser doppler measurements (VISAR), and X-ray density measurements can be used to distinguish EOS, and measure beam energy coupling in ion driven shock experiments. *Work performed under the auspices of the U.S. DOE under contract DE-AC52-07NA27344 at LLNL, and UC contract DE-AC02-05CH11231 at LBNL.