Solidified gas samples for shock wave experimentation

A cryogenic vacuum system suitable for use with a propellant or light gas gun for performing dynamic compression experiments on solidified gases is described. An optical recording system allows the sample target (suspended in a vacuum of 10^(−5) torr) to be monitored until shortly before impact. These experimental techniques have been used to measure Hugoniot data for solid argon and the first Hugoniot data for solid hydrogen