The Development of Patterned Samples to Study Shock Anisotropy in Crystalline Solids

We present methods to generate and image converging shock waves in solid samples of consistent shape and crystallographic orientation. Using novel patterned samples, we extend our previously reported quasi-2D confined shock geometry to study crystalline and amorphous solids. Laser machining using ultrafast laser pulses creates uniform 50-$\mu $m radius disks out of a thin wafer affixed to a high-impedance substrate. A polymer layer is drop-cast to fill the machined-out voids surrounding the sample disks. Intense pump laser light irradiates a circular ``ring'' pattern around one of the disks, and absorption of the light by the polymer layer launches a shock wave that is transduced into the disk as it converges to a focus. Spatial and temporal details of the shock profile and the sample response are measured with single-shot multi-frame imaging. This technique can probe anisotropic responses to converging shock waves.