The shock wave evolution of the laser-induced breakdown under non-spherical symmetry using a 1064 nm nanosecond laser

Abstract

Abstract In acoustics-related interdisciplinary areas, the shock wave of laser-induced breakdown has garnered significant attention. However, research on the propagation of shock waves in non-spherical symmetry is insufficient in both theoretical and experimental aspects. This paper aims to thoroughly study the evolution of underwater shock wave directivity by employing the method of shadowgraph. The shock wave front is determined by the dark fringes in the shadowgraph image and the normal propagation speed of the shock wave is calculated using Huygens principle. Subsequently, normal propagation speed is converted to pressure in different directions by employing the equation of state of the medium. It has been found that the spherical plasma produces an isotropic shock wave, whereas filamentary plasma generates a highly anisotropic one. To evaluate the anisotropic property of the shock wave, we introduce pressure directivity, which is defined as the pressure at any direction normalized by the maximum value. The temporal evolution of shock wave pressure directivity is obtained based on the shadowgraph images. In the case of filamentary plasma, there is a sudden transition of the pressure directivity in the axial from 40 ns to 165 ns, after which the pressure directivity is consistent with the hydrophone measurement. Based on the moving breakdown model of the plasma and the superposition principle, we propose a theoretical model to explain the experimental result of the pressure directivity. The outcome of our model exhibits considerable consistency with the experiment.