Material Science on NIF

Marius Millot

7/10/2019

Abstract:

Giant lasers such as the National Ignition Facility are unique tools to study how materials behave at the extreme pressure and temperature conditions that exist deep inside giant planets. To do this we use laser ablation to generate compression waves exceeding the pressure at the center of Jupiter (80 Mbar).
Using instruments and methods such as ultrafast optical velocimetry and pyrometry and x-ray diffraction and with careful design of the experimental configuration usually informed by computer simulations, we can now recreate planetary interiors in the laboratory to reveal new, unexpected and exotic behaviors for planetary constituent materials once compressed to several megabars and heated to temperatures of thousands of degrees.
Recent findings include the discovery of superionic water ice and new insights into the metallization of fluid hydrogen which provide important constraints for the understanding of the giant planets of our solar system Jupiter Saturn, Neptune and Uranus, as well as for the thousands of exoplanets that we keep discovering.

Bio:

Marius Millot obtained his PhD from Université Paul Sabatier in Toulouse (France) in 2009. After a postdoc at the Earth and Planetary Science Department of UC Berkeley, he is now a Research Scientist in the High Energy Density Science Section of the Physics Division at LLNL.
His research is focused on the study of matter properties at extreme pressures and temperatures for High Energy Density science, Inertial Confinement Fusion, materials science, planetary science and astronomy using dynamic compression methods and ultrafast optical diagnostics. He is the responsible scientist for the NIF VISAR and SOP systems, and frequently collaborates with leading groups worldwide to conduct experiments at the Omega and NIF laser facilities. Marius received the European High-Pressure Research Group (EHPRG) Award in 2016 and LLNL Director's Science and Technology Award in 2018.