High pressures generated by laser driven shocks: applications to planetary physics

High power lasers are a tool that can be used to determine important parameters in the context of Warm Dense Matter, i.e. at the convergence of low-temperature plasma physics and finite-temperature condensed matter physics. Recent results concerning planet inner core materials such as water and iron are presented. We determined the equation of state, temperature and index of refraction of water for pressures up to 7 Mbar. The release state of iron in a LiF window allowed us to investigate the melting temperature near the inner core boundary conditions. Finally, the first application of proton radiography to the study of shocked material is also discussed.