A novel approach is described that determines the thermal behavior and decomposition of multiphase solid and liquid substances, such as chemical wastes, fuels, aerosol particles, and propellants through rapid and controlled beating with laser radiation. The laser-driven thermal reactor (LDTR) was developed to provide near temporally resolved determination of substance thermophysical properties and chemical reaction characteristics over a wide range of temperatures (up to 2000 K), heating rates (up to several hundreds of degrees per second), gas pressures, and ambient environments. Described is the experimental arrangement and supporting theory that is used to determine substance thermophysical and chemical behavior. Examples of the application of this technique are given for different substances, namely, a simulant multicomponent organic chemical waste, nitromethane, and activated carbon. Published by Elsevier Ltd.