Ultrafast shock experiments on cryogenic liquid carbon monoxide

Shock waves propagating in organic compounds are known to induce chemical processes that lead to the formation of small, stable molecules, but for materials that have a negative oxygen balance condensed carbon is also thermodynamically favored. Indeed, self-propagating shocks (detonations) in most organic explosives produce "soot" in the form of nanocarbon polymorphs. Further, simulations are well suited to ultrafast laser-driven shock methods which can obtain hydrodynamic data over micron length- and picosecond-time scales. For ultrafast methods, sample preparation may be substantially simplified compared to large scale experiments, and ultrafast shock compression has high throughput. Here we will present results of ultrafast shock experiments in cryogenic liquid CO in a modified, commercial cryostat. These experiments allow us to obtain velocimetry data for many shots in a single cryostat load, and recovery of compression products. Our experimental results may be compared to DFT force-matched molecular mechanics simulations at substantially larger scale than conventional DFT.