Understanding Limits of the Thermal Mechanism of Laser Initiation of Energetic Materials

Laser initiation of energetic materials has a potential to shift a paradigm in the development of novel explosive technologies with a stunningly broad range of applications. Once interactions of laser irradiation with energetic materials are better understood, dramatically improved safe explosive devices, intricate high-precision tools in micromedicine, miniaturized cutting and drilling tools, synthesis of new promising materials with tailored properties, and fundamentally new concepts of converting energy become possible. We consider the interplay between optical and thermal energies, analyze the applicability of the thermal mechanism of initiation, and estimate the limits of its efficiency in the process of laser initiation of energetic materials. We propose a simple demonstration of a feasibility of nonthermal selective photoinitiation while challenging the widely popular perception of the thermal nature of laser initiation.