Laser-driven shock wave experiments at the University of British Columbia

Abstract
A review of recent laser-driven shock wave experiments at the University of British Columbia is presented. These include emissivity and reflectivity measurements on target rear surfaces when the shock wave emerges as well as measurements of the trajectories of shock propagation in initially transparent targets irradiated by temporally tailored laser pulses. The rear surface measurements allowed us to study the equation of state and electron conductivity of dense plasmas while coalescence of shock waves was evident in the trajectory of shock waves driven by a shaped pulse.