Ultrafast emission spectroscopy of exploding nanoaluminum in Teflon: Observations of aluminum fluoride

► Real-time spectroscopic observation of an exploding reactive material at close range. ► Fifty picoseconds chemical initiation followed by 100 ps ignition. ► Initiation/ignition limited by chemical dynamics rather than heat or mass transfer. ► Observation of a reaction product AlF. ► Tiny but powerful model to aid in interpreting emission from macroscopic explosions.