Measurement of shock wave parameters by an optical technique
Abstract
A new laser technique is proposed for measuring shock wave velocity and the velocity of a free surface in transparent materials. The technique employs a probe laser beam directed normal to a stack of polished transparent flat plates with a gap of about 1 micron (more than light wavelength) between them. A shock wave passing through the sample closes the gap and establishes optical contact between the plates. The disappearance of reflection from each of the interfaces signals that the shock wave front or the free surface of one of the plates has reached a certain fixed position, and thus their velocity can be determined.
- Publication:
-
Technical Physics Letters
- Pub Date:
- August 1980
- Bibcode:
- 1980TePhL...6..433A