Laser slapper detonator for shock compression study of energetic materials

We have developed a tabletop experimental setup for the study of shock compression of energetic materials. Shocks are generated using metallic flyer plates driven by a slapper detonator. The detonator is initiated using Aluminum laser-driven flyer plates launched by a compact commercial Nd:YAG laser. Our setup offers a wide variety of shock conditions with flyer thicknesses ranging from 10 to 500 mm and velocities of up to 5 km/s, depending on the flyer material used. Typical shock pressures of up to 50 GPa and shock durations of up to 200 ns can be achieved. The flyer diameter can also be varied between 0.7 and 4 mm. Different diagnostics are available to characterize flyers and shocked materials. They include photon Doppler velocimetry (PDV), streak and high-speed framing cameras, absorption and single-shot Raman spectroscopy. In this paper, we will describe in detail our free space laser slapper detonator. Then, we will present three applications of our shock generator: (1) High-Pressure inert Hugoniot measurement of T2 TATB-based explosive; (2) Temperature measurement of shocked T2 by Raman spectroscopy; (3) Initiation study of pressed powdered LLM-105. Finally, we will present the fiber version of our laser detonator, which can easily be used to trigger detonation experiments.