Determination of pressure and density of shocklessly compressed beryllium from x-ray radiography of a magnetically driven cylindrical liner implosion

We describe a technique for measuring the pressure and density of a metallic solid, shocklessly compressed to multi-megabar pressure, through x-ray radiography of a magnetically driven, cylindrical liner implosion. Shockless compression of the liner produces material states that correspond approximately to the principal compression isentrope (quasi-isentrope). This technique is used to determine the principal quasi-isentrope of solid beryllium to a peak pressure of 2.4 Mbar from x-ray images of a high current (20 MA), fast (~100 ns) liner implosion.