Direct laser impulse effects on titanium

Direct Laser Impulse (DLI) is an experimental platform in which a high-power optical laser strikes a tamper material to emulate the impulse and shock generated by x-ray deposition in metal. Here, we present analysis of DLI experiments on titanium alloys. Simple, flat titanium targets adhered to a tamper were subjected to a direct laser impulse on the Orion Laser at the UK’s Atomic Weapons Establishment. In this analysis, we will compare the response of titanium in these DLI experiments to experiments on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) in which x-ray photons directly interacted with metal to generate a thermo-mechanical shock. Such comparisons will inform the design of future NIF x-ray experiments as well as experiments on a new NIF DLI capability coming online in 2022.