Atomic and Electronic Structure of Warm Dense Silicon

We present experimental data to determine the atomic and electronic structure of warm dense silicon using simultaneous spectrally and angularly resolved measurements of the x‑ray scattering. A variety of uniform warm dense states spanning the solid–liquid boundary were generated through laser shock compression of silicon samples. A unified analysis of the x-ray scattering, combining spectral (x-ray Thomson scattering) and angular (x-ray diffraction) scattering data, reduced the necessary model assumptions used to determine the ion and electron structure factors, thereby reducing systematic uncertainties.