Time-resolved whole field investigation of plasma plume-induced shock wave in liquid media of different densities

Laser-produced plasma-induced shock wave in liquid media of different densities has been experimentally studied using non-intrusive diagnostics. A time-resolved Mach–Zehnder interferometer is setup to track the shock wave and subsequent density perturbations in the medium. Two-dimensional spatial distributions for both, ambient medium density and plasma (electron) density have been obtained by employing customised inversion technique and algorithm on the recorded interferograms. It has been observed that the nature of the shock-induced density perturbation in liquid medium is significantly different as compared to that in the gaseous medium. The observed density perturbations have been correlated with the primary shock wave and stress waves reflected from within the target and travelling back in the medium. The trend in the variation of electronic charge density in the plume region has also been studied.