Watching extreme materials through the ultrafast shock compression microscope*

We have developed a microscope that looks into solids and liquids as they are subjected to controlled high velocity impacts. These impacts generate shock waves that propagate a few kilometers per second, creating intense mechanical and thermal effects that can trigger new kinds of chemistry. One of these impacts can create pressures of 200,000 atm and temperatures of 4000K while compressing matter to half its density. I will describe the shock compression microscope and the peripheral high-speed optical diagnostics that measure pressure, temperature, density, composition and structure in real time. A few applications will be discussed: shock initiation and detonation of high explosives, shock attenuation by molecular frameworks, and cchemistry in extreme states of water.