Non-Thermal Shocks- Dharamsi and Hassam

ABSTRACT

A. N. Dharamsi and A. B. Hassam, "Cold shock waves in semiconductors and insulators", Journal Applied Physics, 65,2998,1989

A. N. Dharamsi
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia 23529
A. B. Hassam
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742
(Received 28 July 1988; accepted for publication 19 December 1988)

It is proposed that ultrahigh density shock waves could be generated in solids by inducing changes in the lattice constant upon laser irradiation. Moreover, for appropriately chosen semiconductors and insulators the initial shock is cold in that the laser energy is converted directly into the compression, with no thermal energy generated initially. Density amplification factors in the hundreds corresponding to transient pressures of gigabars, could be obtained by picosecond, 1-mJ laser pulses. With smaller laser peak powers, the lattice constant variation may be exploited to generate picosecond optoacoustic pulses.

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