Time-resolved Raman spectroscopy of shock compressed single crystal HMX

Shock initiation of an energetic organic solid is generally considered to proceed via a mechanism through which low frequency acoustic phonons are upconverted to higher frequency bond stretching vibrations in the crystal. To elucidate changes in molecular structure under shock loading, a series of well defined gas gun driven plate impact experiments coupled to time-resolved Raman spectroscopy were performed on single crystal \textit{$\beta $}-HMX. We will also present progress in obtaining temperature measurements in the shocked material using a Stokes/anti-Stokes intensity ratio method.