Production of periodically modulated laser-driven blast waves in a clustering gas

To study hydrodynamic behavior on thin shell high Mach number blast waves, experiments have been performed in which spatially tailored shock waves have been launched in a gas of clusters using an intense 35 fs laser pulse. The target medium was first modified by destroying clusters in specific locations using a spatially modulated laser focus. Under subsequent intense laser irradiation, the efficient absorption properties of the remaining clustered regions compared to those regions with no clusters led to a pattern of hot and cold plasma resulting in a cylindrical blast wave with a periodic modulation imprinted on the shock front. This technique may provide a method for studying thin shell instabilities in strongly radiative blast waves.