Studies on laser-driven shocks using a Nd:glass laser

Abstract

A review of work done on laser generated shocks in solids using a high-peak-power Nd:glass laser in the Laser and Plasma Technology Division of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre is presented in this paper. The 20-J/5-ns Nd:glass laser used in the experiments is able to produce focused laser intensities in the range of 5 × 1011-1013 W/cm2 and a shock pressure in the range of 0.1–5 Mbar. A l-J/100-ps Nd:glass laser is also being developed for laser shock studies, details of which are presented. Several diagnostics have been developed for laser shock studies of which the main diagnostics are optical shadowgraphy, optical interferometry, and laser velocity interferometry for particle velocity measurement. The measurement of ablation pressure in various types of targets, the scaling of ablation pressure with laser intensity, the effect of laser beam nonuniformity on shockfront or ablation pressure uniformity, the smoothing of shockfront and pressure profiles in high-Z coated and high-Z doped targets, and so on, are the various experimental studies conducted. We have tried to study X-ray driven ablation in aluminum and plastic targets using gold and copper as X-ray producing targets. Uniform pressure of about 0.1 Mbar has been generated over an area of 4 mm2