Shock Driven Dynamics on the Benchtop: Generation and Characterization with Imaging and Spectroscopy

We have developed a benchtop platform to generate shockwaves in materials and monitor the ensuing material response and chemistry. A thin layer (20-100 µm) of material is pressed between two glass plates, confining it to a planar geometry. A nanosecond laser pulse is focused into a circular “ring” pattern of 180 µm radius, launching a shock wave that propagates within the plane of the sample and focuses toward the circle’s center. Using a high-speed multi-frame camera, we have been able to record up to sixteen images of a single shock event with time intervals as short as 5 ns. Employing a host of spectroscopic techniques, we can further interrogate the structural and chemical nature of the shocked sample. This single-shot method of imaging and characterizing shocked samples has allowed us to investigate a variety of chemical and physical phenomena including cavitation, structural phase transitions, and chemical reactivity/decomposition.