Creation of Solid Density Warm Dense Matter with LCLS

LCLS is the first true hard x-ray laser in the world, delivering x-rays with photon energies from 1 to 10 keV, with several mJ per pulse, with durations of a few 100 to less than 10 fsec at a repitition rate of 120 Hz. It is a billion times brighter than any sychrotron source in existence. We show initial experiments demonstrating the creation of warm solid-density matter with temperatures up to 200 eV in relatively large volumes, created by focussing the output of LCLS to intensities of order 10$^{18}$Wcm$^{-2}$ onto solid targets. Fluorescence from the targets allows charge states and temperatures to be deduced, and compared with code calculations.