Photothermal initiation of hybrid organic/inorganic metastable interstitial composites: synergistic effects on the dynamics of energy release.

The organic high-energy material pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) was incorporated at low concentrations into Al (100 nm)/Fe(2)O(3) metastable intersitital composites (MIC) to form a hybrid organic/inorganic high-energy material. Studies of the dynamics of energy release were carried out by initiating the reaction photothermally with a single 8 ns pulse of the 1064 nm fundamental of a Nd:YAG laser. The reaction dynamics were measured using time-resolved spectroscopy of the light emitted from the deflagrating material.