Shocks induced by laser driven flyer plates 1-experiments

To study laser-driven miniature flying plates accelerated by a laser impact, we have performed several types of measurements to determine the reflected energy, acceleration profiles, projectile planarity and impact pressure. A 10 ns Nd: YAG laser pulse at power densities 1–10 GW/cm2 accelerates several materials deposited on a UV-fused quartz window. The measurement of the reflectivity, resolved in time by means of an elliptic mirror, is used to make an energy evaluation. A Doppler-laser interferometry system is used to record the flyer acceleration profile and to measure the impact pressure. A good agreement between experiments and numerical results issued from a 1-D laser-matter interaction code is obtained.