Shock wave propagation in soda lime glass using optical shadowgraphy

Propagation of shock waves in soda lime glass, which is a transparent material, has been studied using the optical shadowgraphy technique. The time-resolved shock velocity information has been obtained (1) in single shot, using the chirped pulse shadowgraphy technique, with a temporal resolution of tens of picoseconds and (2) in multiple shots, using conventional snapshot approach, with a second harmonic probe pulse. Transient shock velocities of (5–7) × 10⁶ cm/s have been obtained. The scaling of the shock velocity with intensity in the 2 × 10¹³–10¹⁴ W/cm² range has been obtained. The shock velocity is observed to scale with laser intensity as I^0.38. The present experiments also show the presence of ionization tracks, generated probably due to X-ray hotspots from small-scale filamentation instabilities. The results and various issues involved in these experiments are discussed.