Hugoniot data of plastic foams obtained from laser-driven shocks

In this paper we present Hugoniot data for plastic foams obtained with laser-driven shocks. Relative equation-of-state data for foams were obtained using Al as a reference material. The diagnostics consisted in the detection of shock breakout from double layer Al/foam targets. The foams [poly(4-methyl-1-pentene) with density 130 > rho > 60 mg/cm3] were produced at the Institute of Laser Engineering of Osaka University. The experiment was performed using the Prague PALS iodine laser working at 0.44 microm wavelength and irradiances up to a few 10(14) W/cm2. Pressures as high as 3.6 Mbar (previously unreached for such low-density materials) where generated in the foams. Samples with four different values of initial density were used, in order to explore a wider region of the phase diagram. Shock acceleration when the shock crosses the Al/foam interface was also measured.