Design and simulation of multilayer coatings for a multi-channel Wolter-like x-ray imager with large field of view and high resolution.

X-ray diagnostics are key instruments for understanding the physics behind inertial confinement fusion experiments. We report on the multilayer design optimization for the Toroidal X-ray Imager (TXI), a hard x-rays microscope instrument designed by Commissariat à l'énergie atomique (CEA) and Laboratoire Charles Fabry (LCF) to be installed on the National Ignition Facility. TXI includes six channels designed for three different energy bands centered on 8.

Synthesis of lithium polyhydrides above 130 GPa at 300 K.

The prediction of novel lithium hydrides with nontraditional stoichiometries at high pressure has been seminal for highlighting a promising line of research on hydrogen-dense materials. Here, we report the evidences of the disproportionation of LiH above 130 GPa to form lithium hydrides containing H2 units. Measurements have been performed using the nonperturbing technique of synchrotron infrared absorption.

A new approach in the design of electronic portal imaging devices for portal dosimetry in radiotherapy.

A CCD-based EPID using new crystal-assembly X-ray (CAX) converters is investigated for radiotherapy dosimetry. The proposed EPID design consists in replacing the common phosphor X-ray converters of current CCD-based EPIDs with high-stopping-power CAX converters. A Test Imaging Device (TID), consisting of a 30-mm-thick CAX converter made of Bismuth Germanate (BGO), coupled to a highly sensitive CCD camera, was used to evaluate the accessible imaging and dosimetric performance of the proposed design.

Plutonium behavior after pulmonary administration according to solubility properties, and consequences on alveolar macrophage activation.

The physico-chemical form in which plutonium enters the body influences the lung distribution and the transfer rate from lungs to blood. In the present study, we evaluated the early lung damage and macrophage activation after pulmonary contamination of plutonium of various preparation modes which produce different solubility and distribution patterns. Whatever the solubility properties of the contaminant, macrophages represent a major retention compartment in lungs, with 42 to 67% of the activity from broncho-alveolar lavages being associated with macrophages 14 days post-contamination.

Orbital-free molecular dynamics simulations of a warm dense mixture: examination of the excess-pressure matching rule.

A form of the linear mixing rule involving the equality of excess pressures is tested with various mole fractions and various types of orbital-free molecular dynamics simulations. For all the cases considered, this mixing rule yields, within statistical error, the pressure of a mixture of helium and iron obtained by a direct simulation. In an attempt to interpret the robustness of the mixing rule, we show that it can be derived from thermodynamic stability if the system is regarded as a mixture of independent effective average atoms.

Thermodynamic behavior of the CO2 + NO2/N2O4 mixture: a Monte Carlo simulation study.

The thermodynamic behavior of the carbon dioxide + nitrogen dioxide (CO2 + NO2) mixture was investigated using a Monte Carlo molecular simulation approach. This system is a particularly challenging one because nitrogen dioxide exists as a mixture of monomers (NO2) and dimers (N2O4) under certain pressure and temperature conditions. The chemical equilibrium between N2O4 and 2NO2 and the vapor-liquid equilibrium of CO2 + NO2/N2O4 mixtures were simulated using simultaneously the reaction ensemble and the Gibbs ensemble Monte Carlo (RxMC and GEMC) methods.

Molecular based equation of state for shocked liquid nitromethane.

An approach is proposed to obtain the equation of state of unreactive shocked liquid nitromethane. Unlike previous major works, this equation of state is not based on extended integration schemes [P.C.

A LC-MS method allowing the analysis of HMX and RDX present at the picogram level in natural aqueous samples without a concentration step.

The introduction of chloroform into the nebulising gas of a LC/MS electrospray interface (ESI), in a perfectly controlled way, leads to the formation of intense adducts ([M+Cl](-)) when a mobile phase containing HMX (1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazacyclooctane or octogen) and RDX (1,3,5-trintro-1,3,5-triazacyclohexane or hexogen) is eluted. This LC/MS method allows the direct analysis of aqueous samples containing HMX and RDX at the pictogram level without a concentration step. The method is used to determine HMX and RDX concentrations in ground water samples from a military site.

Thermodynamic properties of benzene under shock conditions.

We present in this paper a thermodynamic analysis of benzene properties under shock conditions as given by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Reactive MD simulations of benzene predict a decomposition threshold corresponding to the flection point on the experimental Hugoniot curve. A polymerlike carbonated structure is observed for pressures above this threshold, but the calculated Hugoniot curve is in disagreement with the experimental one at high pressure.

(3+1)-dimensional numerical simulations of femtosecond laser filaments in air: toward a quantitative agreement with experiments.

Three-dimensional numerical simulations and direct experimental measurements of the multifilamentation of femtosecond laser pulses propagating in air are quantitatively compared. Agreement is obtained in terms of the evolution of the filamentation pattern and in terms of the size and energy of the individual filaments through 12 m of propagation. These results are made possible by the combination of a massively parallel propagation code along with a nondestructive experimental diagnostic technique.

Microscopic approaches to liquid nitromethane detonation properties.

In this paper, thermodynamic and chemical properties of nitromethane are investigated using microscopic simulations. The Hugoniot curve of the inert explosive is computed using Monte Carlo simulations with a modified version of the adaptative Erpenbeck equation of state and a recently developed intermolecular potential. Molecular dynamic simulations of nitromethane decomposition have been performed using a reactive potential, allowing the calculation of kinetic rate constants and activation energies.

Direct verification of mixing rules in the hot and dense regime.

We perform orbital-free molecular dynamics simulations in the hot and dense regime for two mixtures: equimolar helium-iron and asymmetric deuterium-copper plasmas. For thermodynamic properties, we test two isobaric-isothermal mixing rules whose definitions involve either the equality of total pressures or the equality of the so-defined excess pressures of the components; the pressure and internal energy obtained by direct simulations are in very good agreement with those given by the mixing rule involving the equality of excess pressures. The viscosity of the deuterium-copper mixture is also extracted from a direct simulation and compared to the result given by a mixing rule applied to the viscosities of the pure elements.