SHOCK PROFILE INDUCED BY SHORT LASER-PULSES

Standard 25-mu m-thick polyvinilydene fluoride (PVDF) piezoelectric ga uges and new 450-mu m-thick P(VDF 70%, TrFE 30%) piezoelectric copolym er have been used to record shock profiles at the back face of metalli c targets irradiated by laser pulses of 2.5 and 0.6 ns duration at a 1 .06 mu m wavelength. The records are fully explained with simplified s pace-time diagram analysis. The pressure profile applied at the front face of the target has been determined from these records combined wit h numerical simulations of wave propagation through the target. A nume rical code describing the interaction of laser with matter (FILM) has also been used for computing the applied pressure. Both methods lead t o very close results. The peak pressure dependence on incident laser i ntensity is determined up to 30 GPa at 10(12) W/cm(2). (C) 1996 Americ an Institute of Physics.