Figure 2

Integrated XRD data at ambient conditions and different time delays between the pump and the probe laser. The cold material shows peaks from the crystalline PET structure as well as from the aluminium coating. With the propagation of the shock front, these features recede and a signal from the amorphous liquid plastic remains, showing a wide peak centred around \(k= {3.2}\, {\AA }^{-1}\). After shock breakout around \(\Delta t \approx {6} \, \text {ns}\) the peak shifts to lower k, as it can be observed in the curves marked with “(b.o.)”. Those later delays are offset for clarity.