Application of Laser Shadow Streak Image for Studying the Dynamics of Shock Waves in Transparent Materials

— An informative and very clear experimental method for studying the processes that accompany the propagation of shock waves in transparent materials under powerful pulsed exposure is proposed. The method is based on analysis of the shadow streak image formed by probe laser radiation that passes through a sample. The sensitivity of the method is estimated. The method was tested on samples of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and K-8 optical glass at electron beam currents of up to 45 kA and electron energies of up to 300 keV. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated.