X-rays reveal defects propagating through material at faster-than-sound speed (IMAGE)
Caption
Illustration of an intense laser pulse hitting a diamond crystal from top right, driving elastic and plastic waves (curved lines) through the material. The laser pulse creates linear defects, known as dislocations, at the points where it hits the crystal. They propagate through the material faster than the transverse speed of sound, leaving stacking facults – the lines fanning out from the impact site – behind.
Credit
Greg Stewart/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
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