Shock compression, release wave speed, and window correction in c-cut sapphire

Over a period of years, data have been accumulated on the dynamic properties of c-cut sapphire windows and impactors during the performance of timing tests on a gun facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory. New analyses of these tests have yielded improved measurements of the Hugoniot, release behavior, and window correction at 532 nm to be determined in the elastic compression regime. These results are combined with previously published data on this material to provide an improved description of the behavior of this important shock wave standard.