LCLS: A new frontier for time-resolved in situ lattice measurements in materials at extreme conditions

While laser-based pump-probe experiments have provided significant insights into the processes induced by dynamic loading (e.g. shock-induced phase transitions, elastic-plastic response), the material behavior at the lattice level has been extremely difficult to unveil due to the temporal and signal-to-noise limitations of laser-based x-ray techniques. Here we present recent dynamic x-ray diffraction measurements on the shock-induced behavior of polycrystalline Mg in the 10-40 GPa regime, followed by future experiments in the field of dynamic high pressure science using the free electron laser at LCLS as an ultrafast x-ray probe.