Shocking a Shock Wave for Nonlinear Summation of GPa Pressures
Abstract
Exploring shock-shock interactions has been limited by experimental constraints, particularly in laser-induced shock experiments due to specialized equipment requirements. Herein, we introduce a tabletop approach to systematically investigate the excitation and superposition of dual laser-induced shock waves in water. Utilizing two laser pulses, spatio-temporally separated and focused into a confined water layer, we identify the optimal superposition leading to the highest combined shock pressure. Our results demonstrate that combining two shock waves each of 0.6~GPa pressure yields an overall shock pressure of 3~GPa. Our findings, suggesting an inherent nonlinear summation from the laser excitation process itself and highlights a new pathway for energy-efficient laser shock wave excitation.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2504.00326,
title = {Shocking a Shock Wave for Nonlinear Summation of GPa Pressures},
author = {Jet Lem and Yun Kai and Maxime Vassaux and Steven E. Kooi and Keith A. Nelson and Thomas Pezeril},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2504.00326},
year = {2026}
}