Experiments in warm dense matter using an ion beam driver

Warm dense matter (WDM) conditions are to be achieved by combined longitudinal and transverse neutralized drift compression of an intense ion beam pulse to provide a hot spot on a target with a beam spot size of about 1 mm, and pulse length about 1-2 ns. The range of the beams in solid matter targets is about 1 micron, which can be lengthened by using reduced density porous targets. Initial experiments in ion-beam-driven WDM will be at low beam velocity, below the Bragg peak, increasing toward the Bragg peak in subsequent higher-energy accelerators. Initial experiments include a transient darkening experiment and a experiment in porous targets at GSI. Further experiments will explore target temperature and other properties such as electrical conductivity to investigate phase transitions and the critical point.