VIRTUAL Thursday, January 21st , 2021 3:45 – 4:45 p.m. WEBEX Speaker: Thomas R Mattsson Senior Manager 1640 and Deputy Executive for Assessment Science at Sandia National Laboratories Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM “Material physics with pulsed power at Sandia” Abstract: "The behavior of materials in extreme conditions is not only fascinating with many scientific challenges, a quantitative understanding is vital for our ability to model stars, planets, and nuclear weapons with high fidelity. At Sandia, we employ pulsed power technology and facilities like the Z-machine and THOR to investigate materials over a range of conditions from normal to High Energy Density (HED). In this presentation, I will describe how we utilize pulsed power to drive materials to high pressure without making them hot, present a broad range of recent work on equation of state, phase transitions, phase transition kinetics, and material strength for different materials, and finally share recent work in dense plasma physics. Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-NA0003525. Bio: Thomas Mattsson is the senior manager for 1640, the High Energy Density Material Physics Group. In this role, Thomas also serve as the deputy for the NNSA Assessment Science portfolio, which includes Primary Assessment Technologies, Secondary Assessment Technologies, Dynamic Materials Physics, and Advanced Radiography and Transformative Technologies. Thomas has a M.Sc. in Engineering Physics and a Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics from Chalmers University of Technology in Goteborg, Sweden. He joined Sandia in 2001 following research in the telecom industry and postdoc positions at University of California, Santa Barbara and the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. At Sandia, he started in then 1100 for research focused on surface- and materials science, applying density functional theory (DFT) to direct methanol fuel cell catalysts, growth processes for semiconductors, and the dynamics of defects in metals. In 2003 Thomas joined the Pulsed Power Sciences Center using DFT to develop material models and understand materials at extreme conditions, from water to xenon. Thomas has authored or co-authored more than 70 scientific papers, including many in high-profile journals, has a US patent in the area of microwave engineering, and is a Fellow of the American Physical Society. In 2011, Thomas transitioned to management, managing the HEDP Theory department for eight years followed by the Radiation and ICF Target Design department during 2019. In parallel with line management, Thomas has had successively increasing program responsibilities, including leading Sandia’s C1 Primary Assessment Technology, Advanced Certification Program, the Equation of State and High Explosives sub-element for Physics and Engineering Models (PEM) within ASC, the Harding ICF campaign, and he is the present chair of the National HED Council. Thomas’s program management experience includes theory/simulations and experiments and extends across Sandia and the NNSA laboratories, resulting in strong connections with the national leadership. Thomas’s leadership in these programs has directly impacted the Nation’s capabilities to maintain a safe, secure, and effective Stockpile. Thomas was also instrumental in making the Z Fundamental Science Program a success – leading it since 2011 – hosting yearly workshops and organizing regular calls for proposals and associated external reviews.