AbstractIt is well known that pulsed lasers can generate higher pressures than any other laboratory method if their radiation is focussed onto solid matter. However, the coherence of laser light and the resulting problem of nonuniform energy deposition due to interference effects in the beam represented a severe obstacle for quantitative use in high pressure physics. This problem has now been overcome by converting the laser light into incoherent thermal soft x‐rays in laser‐heated cavities. Experiments with the ASTERIX laser in which uniform shock waves with pressures of 8 Megabars have been generated are described in detail. It is concluded that lasers may become a quantitative new tool in high pressure phys