Ultrafast Raman spectroscopy of shock fronts in molecular solids

The passage of a 4 GPa shock front through an embedded optical nanogauge, a thin (similar to 700 nm) layer of polycrystalline molecular material (anthracene), is monitored in real time by picosecond coherent Raman scattering. Analysis of high resolution Raman spectra shows the shock rise time is less than 25 ps, and the front is less than 100 molecules wide. The rise time is faster than relaxation of nonequilibrium populations of molecular vibrations, which shows a shock front in a molecular material can leave highly nonequilibrium vibrational states in its wake. The implications for shock initiation of energetic materials, typically polycrystalline molecular solids, are briefly discussed.