Abstract ▼ AI-Helper

Mass removed from crystalline silicon samples during high power single-pulse laser ablation was studied by measuring the resulting crater morphology with a white light interferometric microscope. The volume and depth of the craters show a strong nonlinear change as the laser irradiance increases acr...

Mass removed from crystalline silicon samples during high power single-pulse laser ablation was studied by measuring the resulting crater morphology with a white light interferometric microscope. The volume and depth of the craters show a strong nonlinear change as the laser irradiance increases across a threshold value, that is, approximately $2.2{\times}10^{10}\;W/cm^2$. Time-resolved shadowgraph images of the ablation plume show the ejection of large particulates from the sample for laser irradiance above the threshold, with a time delay of about 300-400 nsec. The thickness of superheated liquid layer near the critical temperature was numerically estimated, considering the transformation of liquid metal into liquid dielectric near the critical state (i.e., induced transparency). The estimated thickness of the superheated layer at a delay time of 200 nsec agreed with the measured crater depths, suggesting that induced transparency promotes the formation of a deep superheated liquid layer which leads to an explosive boiling responsible for the sudden increase of crater volume and depth.