Dynamics of laserdriven shock waves in water

M. A. Harith, V. Palleschi, A. Salvetti, D. P. Singh, M. Vaselli et al.

Citation: J. Appl. Phys. 66, 5194 (1989); doi: 10.1063/1.343755

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 Dynamics of laser~drBven shock waves In water
M. A. Harith,a) V. Palleschi, A. Salvetti, D. P. Slngh, and M. Vaselli
btituto di Fisica Atomica e Molecolare del CN.R., Via del Giardino 7, 56127 Pisa, Italy
G. V. Dreiden, Yu. L Ostrovsky. and L V. Semenova
A. F. Ioffe Physical Technical Institute, Academy of Sciences oIthe USSR, 194021 Leningrad, USSR
(Received 1 June 1989; accepted for publication 10 August 1989)
Shock waves were produced in water by directing unfocused O.4-J, 20-ns ruby (A = 0.693 /lm)
or 3-J, 8-ns Nd-glass (A = 1.06 pm) laser light onto the metalized surface of a thin plastic foil.
The illuminated areas were 0.35 and 2.3 cm L , respectively, corresponding to laser irradiances
of 52.6 and 68.4 MW em - 2. The radial propagation velocity and the profile of the generated
waves have been measured via double-exposure interferometric holography and
shadowgraphy. Using the obtained values oftne shock velocities and the fringe shift in the
interferograms, the pressure on the shock wave front, the thickness of the compressed water
layer, the laser energy consumed in producing this layer, and the time required for its
formation have been calculated.

INTRODUCTION EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE

The advent of the laser as a powerful light source capa-
ble of providing a large amount of heat in a brief period of
time aroused considerable interest in laser-driven shock
waves in fluids, [·5 Laser-fluid interaction implies a number
of remarkable phenomena, among which thermal energy de-
position, dielectric breakdown, and subsequent bubble for-
mation and cavitation are particularly important 6 •7 How-
ever, the occurrence of these phenomena depends on the
laser intensity and pulse duration and on the fluid character-
istics. Heating of a fluid by a Q-switched laser pulse is similar
to heating under constant volume, and consequently large
pressures arc created in the form of shock waves as a result of
the limited expansion during the time of exposure to the laser
light. g This mechanism was exploited to produce shock
waves in liquids in many earlier works by focusing pulsed
laser radiation on the surface 9 • 10 or in the bulk of the liq-
uid. 2 ,4,11.12 Alternatively, to avoid the dielectric breakdown
of the liquid and the accompanying complex processes, an-
other technique for shock waves generation can be used by
directing unfocused Q-switched laser pulse of a proper intell-
sity on the surface of a thin plastic foil coated with a thin
metallic film. Shock waves, in this case, are generated due to
the thermal expansion and tbe explosive evaporation of the
metallic layer followed by its fast condensation. 13
Besides the basic physical interest in analyzing the be-
havior and the characteristics of laser-induced shock waves
in water, there are many technological problems in a variety
of fields where a better understanding oftne phenomenon is
of a great necessity. In this paper we report on velocity and
profile measurements of underwater laser-driven shock
waves via interferometric holography and shadowgraphy
adopting the metalized plastic film and unfocused laser
beam technique. The results of these measurements may
provide an insight in the understanding of different dynami-
cal processes of shock waves in water.
The layout ohhe experiment is shown in Fig. L A plas-
tic foil T coated on one side with a thin film of aluminum and
immersed in doubly distilled water in the cell C is exposed to
unfocused laser light pulses on the metallic side. Two types
oflaser were used for target irradiation: a ruby laser (0.4 J in
20 ns FWHM) and a Nd-glass laser (3 J in 8 ns FWHM).
Considering that the ruby laser light (A = 0.693 .urn) passes
through water without any appreciable attenuation
(a < 10- 3 em -1), while that ofthe Ndlaser (A = L06p:m)
is relatively highly absorbed in a water thickness of 6.2 em
(a = 0.14 cm - I ) / ' and the beam spot diameters on the
target were 0.66 and 1.7 em, respectively, this corresponds to
laser irradiances of 52.6 MW em - 2 for ruby and 68.4 MW
em 2 for neodymium. Double-exposure interferometric ho-
lography15 and dark-field shadowgraphy techniques have
been used to follow up the temporal evolution of the shock
waves in water. We used a double-pulse holographic ruby
laser (20 mJ in 20 ns FWHM each pulse) as a transillumin-
ating source. For a simultaneous recording of interfero-
grams and shadowgrams a knife mirror MK is used with its
edge near the focal point of the lens (L) and oriented at an

") Permanent address: Cairo University, Faculty of Science, Department of

Physics, Cairo, Egypt. FIG. L The experimental arrangement.

5194 J. Appl. Phys. 66 (11),1 December 1989 0021-8979/89/235194-04$02.40 Co) 1989 American Institute of Physics 5194

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angle of 45° with respect to the incident transiHuminating
ruby laser beam. An optical delay line M1M2M3 of 49.S-m
length is employed to foHow the shock waves at two instants
0.165 .us apart on the same shadowgram. The double-pulse
facility of the holographic ruby laser is used to follow the
same shock wave at two different time intervals, variable
between 2 and 12 ,iLS corresponding to distances between 0.3
and 2 cm from the back surface of the target, on holograms
useful for precise velocity measurements.
RESULTS AND ANALYSIS
Figure 2 shows a simultaneously recorded interfero~
gram (a) andshadowgram (b) of the same shock wave. The
maximum number of fringe shift measured in the interfero-
gram amounts to 4.3 fringes. The fringe shift profile of the
same interferogram is displayed in Fig. 3. The smooth profile
of the interference structure of the shock wave can be inter-
preted in terms of the slow and smooth reduction of the
optical path length when a very thin spherical layer of com-
pressed water is probed along the chords approaching the
sphere's center. This is due to the damping mechanisms such
as viscosity and thermal conduction of water which are also
responsible for the decay of the main wave as it propagates
through the water. The nonmonotonic behavior of the inter-
X(mm)
FIG. 3. Fringe profile of the interferogram displayed in Figo 2(a).
51S5 J. Appl. Phys., Vol. 66, No, 11, 1 December 1S89
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FIG. 2. Ca) An interferogram of a shock wave ill-
duced in water by 52.6 MW em 'ruby laser light.
(b) A shadowgram showing the same shock wave
at two moments 00165 ps apart.
ference fringes and the noticeable kinks on the traiiing edge
of the wave may be explained due to the evolution of rarefied
layers in the water behind the compression part of the wave.
At higher incident laser energy this tension part may exceed
the tensile strength of water and cavitation takes place. This
effect is displayed in the interferogram shown in Fig. 4. The
increase in pressure causes the sharpening of compression
and elongates the tension part of the wave. The local density
increase results in the steepening of the wave front which
becomes indistinguishable while relatively wide trailing os-
cillations grow due to the elastic oscillation of the water as
the wave propagates through it. As mentioned before, the
holographic ruby laser is used in its double-pulse mode for
the sake of wave velocity measurement. Figure 5 presents
one of the interferograms recorded adopting this technique
at a time interval at = 8 .us between the two holographic
ruby pulses. From this hologram it is clear that after 8 f-ls the
shock wave is already strongly attenuated in water, however,
its front is still very dear for the precise measurement of the
distance d, the wave front propagated during this time inter-
FrG. 4. An interfcrogram
of the shockw3ves induced
via Nd-Iaser light of 1642
MWem -2 intensity.
Harith eta!. 5195
vaL The relation d vs At is plotted in Fig. 6 for different
interferograms at Nd-Iaser intensity of 68.4 MW em - 2. The
201"--'"
shock wave velocity given by the linear least-square fit of the
15
experimental data is found to be U = 1676 m s - I . On the
other hand, the velocity determined using the ruby laser as a
driver of the shock wave at an intensity of 52.6 MW em - 2 E
.s 10
was 1570ms -I. 'tl

To evaluate the pressure Pj at the shock wave front,

knowing its velocity U, the following semiempirieal formula 5 . !
has been used 16,17:
0) O~-~--,,-~~-·-.------,-~--~

where Po and U 0 are the unperturbed water density and the 024 6 6 10
.1t(,usec)
velocity of sound in water at room temperature ( = 1460
m s - 1 ), respectively. m is a dimensionless empirical param- FIG. 6. A plot ofthe time evolution ofthe shock waves induced in water by
eter equal to 2.1 for water. Using Eq. (1) the pressures calcu- Nd-Iaser light of intensity 68.4 MW cm - 2. Typical error bars are shown in
lated from the above measured two values of the shock wave some experimental points.
velocity in water are 1760 and 872 atm, respectively. The
shock intensities corresponding to the preceding pressure
values are 9.4 and 2.47 GW m -- 2 • Since Eq. (1) includes the (6)
difference between the shock wave velocity U and the veloc-
To relate the work done during the compression and the
ity of sound U 0' it is clear that the error in the calculated
resulting fringe shift K on the interferograms, let us consider
pressure will be determined by the relative error in the di.ffer-
the geometrical path length AL of the probing light through
ence U - U o. In our case, this difference being small, we
the compressed layer (see Fig. 7):
expect to have an error between 15% and 30%.
To determine the thickness 8 of the compressed water AL = 2,j2R8 -71, (7)
layer near the shock front, let us calculate the work done
and since {j -< R. therefore,
(dW) in compressing a volume element dVofthe water:
dW=PdV, (2) b.L = 2~2R8. (8)
The change in the water refractive index lin in the com-
where P is the pressure. Defining the coefficient of water
pressed layer can be deduced from
compressibility X as
1 dV
(3)
~= li V = x AP an = (no - 1)xliP, (9)
X=V dP' flo - 1 V • '
substituting in Eq. (2) and integrating we obtain where no = 1.33 is the unperturbed refractive index of wa-
ter.
W = (1/2) v::yp2. (4)
The maximum value of the interference fringes shift K is
For a spherical wave of radius R, given by
W=2rrR 2{jx p2, (5)
therefore,

FIG. 7. Schematic view of

the shock wave front struc-
ture showing the geometri-
cal path of the holographic
probing light.

FIG. 5. A double-pulse interferogram taken for a shock wave at two mo-

ments 8 J-ls apart. The Nd-Iaser light intensity was 68.4 MW em 2

5196 J. AppL Phys .. \/01. 66. NO.1 i , 1 December 19B9 Harith et al. 5196

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 K = anaL / J...
Substituting Eqs. (9) and (10) in Eq. (4) we obtain
W= (~)21TR.
flo - 1 4%
From expression (11) and considering the interferogram in
Fig. 2 where the fringe shift K is 4.3, R = 7.7 cm, and
X = 4 X 10 - 5 atm - I for water in the pressure interval 1-
1000 atm, 18 the work done Wamounts to 0.0125 J, which
corresponds to about 3.5% conversion efficiency of laser
light energy into mechanical compression. This value seems
to be reasonable, since the laser pulse energy is shared in
heating the substrate, the metallic layer, adjacent water, and
in providing kinetic energy to the propagating compressed
water layer. According to this value of Wand using Eq. (5),
the compressed layer thickness 8 is found to be 0.125 pm.
This layer is formed in a time t where
t = 8/U,;::;O.1 ns.
In summary, using interferometric holography and sha-
dowgraphic techniques, we have measured directly the ve-
locity of the shock waves induced in water via the explosive
evaporation followed by the fast condensation of a thin me-
tallic film exposed to ruby or neodymium laser light pulses.
From the measured velocity and the interference fringe shift
in the interferograms reasonable values for the pressure on
the shock wave front, the thickness ofthe compressed water
layer and its time of formation and the energy consumed in
forming this layer have been estimated.
5197 J. Appl. Phys., Vol. 66, No. 11, 1 December 1989
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(10) ACKNOWLEDGMENT
One of the authors (M.A.H.) would like to acknowl-
edge the support of the ICTP Programme for Training and
(11) Research in Italian Laboratories (Trieste, Italy).
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