A New Synthetical Model of High-Power Pulsed Laser Ablation

We develop a new synthetical model of high-power pulsed laser ablation, which considers the dynamic absorptance, vaporization, and plasma shielding. And the corresponding heat conduction equations with the initial and boundary conditions are given. The numerical solutions are obtained under the reasonable technical parameter conditions by taking YBa₂Cu₃O₇ target for example. The space-dependence and time-dependence of temperature in target at a certain laser fluence are presented, then, the transmitted intensity through plasma plume, space-dependence of temperature and ablation rate for different laser fluences are significantly analyzed. As a result, the satisfactorily good agreement between our numerical results and experimental results indicates that the influences of the dynamic absorptance, vaporization, and plasma shielding cannot be neglected. Taking all the three mechanisms above simultaneously into account for the first time, we cause the present model to be more practical.     

Vaporization and Plasma Shielding during High Power Nanosecond Laser Ablation of Silicon and Nickel

A thermal model to describe the high-power nanosecond pulsed laser ablation is presented. It involves the vaporization and the following plasma shielding effect on the whole ablation process. As an example of Si target, we obtainthe time evolution of the calculated surface temperature, ablation rate and ablation depth. It can be seen that plasma shielding plays a more important role in the ablation process with time. At the same time, the ablation depth with laser fluence based on different models is shown. Moreover, we simulate the pulsed laser irradiation Ni target. The evolution of the transmitted intensity and the variation of ablation depth per pulse with laser fluence are performed. Under the same experimental conditions, the numerical results calculated with our thermal model are more in agreement with the experimental data.     

Thermal model for nanosecond laser sputtering at high fluences

The vaporization effect and the following plasma shielding generated by high-power nanosecond pulsed laser ablation are studied in detail based on the heat flux equation. As an example of Si target, we obtain the time evolution of the calculated surface temperature, ablation rate and ablation depth by solving the heat flow equations using a finite difference method. It can be seen that plasma shielding plays a more important role in the ablation process with time. At the same time, the variation of ablation depth per pulse with laser fluence is performed. Our numerical results are more agreed with the experiment datum than other simulated results. The result shows that the plasma shielding is very important.     

Improved thermal model and its application in UV high-power pulsed laser ablation of metal target

An improved thermal model describing UV high-power nanosecond laser ablation of metal target is presented. The vaporization effect, the plasma shielding effect, as well as the absorption coefficient and absorptivity dependence of temperature are considered in this model. Take iron target as an example, the numerical solutions are obtained from the heat flow equations (before and after melting) using a finite difference method. The space and time dependence of temperature of the target, the time dependence of temperature at two different positions for a certain laser fluence, and the ablation rate as a function of laser fluence are also presented. The numerical results that agreed well with the experimental data are much better than the one without, which indicates that the above two effects and the temperature dependence of absorption coefficient and absorptivity in UV high-power laser ablation of metal target should not be neglected. We hope the present model will be useful for further experimental investigation of metal thin films prepared by pulsed laser deposition.     

A model of laser ablation with temperature-dependent material properties,vaporization, phase explosion and plasma shielding

Laser ablation of metals using nanosecond pulses occurs mainly due to vaporization. However, at high fluences, when the target is heated close to its critical temperature, phase explosion also occurs due to homogeneous nucleation. Due to a wide variation in target temperature, the material properties also show a considerable variation. In this paper, a model of laser ablation is presented that considers vaporization and phase explosion as mechanisms of material removal and also accounts for the variation in material properties up to critical temperature using some general and empirical theories. In addition, plasma shielding due to inverse bremsstrahlung and photo-ionization is considered. The model predicts accurately (within 5 %) the phase explosion threshold fluence of Al. The predictions of ablation depth by the model are in reasonable agreement with experimental measurements at low fluences. Whereas, the degree of error marginally increases at high laser fluences.     

基于双相延迟模型的飞秒激光烧蚀金属模型

为了分析飞秒激光烧蚀过程,在双相延迟模型的基础上建立了双曲型热传导模型.模型中考虑了靶材的加热、蒸发和相爆炸,还考虑了等离子体羽流的形成和膨胀及其与入射激光的相互作用,以及光学和热物性参数随温度的变化.研究结果表明:等离子体屏蔽对飞秒激光烧蚀过程有重要的影响,特别是在激光能量密度较高时;两个延迟时间的比值对飞秒激光烧蚀过程中靶材的温度特性和烧蚀深度有较大的影响;飞秒激光烧蚀机制主要以相爆炸为主.飞秒激光烧蚀的热影响区域较小,而且热影响区域的大小受激光能量密度的影响较小.计算结果与文献中实验结果的对比表明基于双相延迟模型的飞秒激光烧蚀模型能有效对飞秒激光烧蚀过程进行模拟.     

纳秒脉冲激光沉积薄膜过程中的烧蚀特性研究

研究了高能短脉冲激光薄膜制备的整个烧蚀过程.首先建立了基于超热理论的烧蚀模型，然 后利用较为符合实际的高斯分布表示脉冲激光输入能量密度，给出了考虑蒸发效应不同阶段 的烧蚀状态方程.结合适当的边界条件，以Si靶材为例，利用有限差分法得到了靶材在各个 阶段温度随时间和烧蚀深度的演化分布规律及表面蒸发速度与烧蚀深度在不同激光辐照强度 下随时间的演化规律.结果表明，在脉冲激光辐照阶段，靶材表面的蒸发效应使得靶材表面 温度上升显著放缓；在激光辐照强度接近相爆炸能量阈值时，蒸发速度与蒸发厚度的变化由 于逆流现象将显著放缓.还得到了考虑了熔融弛豫时间及蒸发效应的固-液界面随时间的演化 方程，这一结论较先前工作更具有普适性. 关键词： 脉冲激光烧蚀 热流方程 温度演化 有限差分法     

Modeling of laser induced breakdown spectroscopy for very low-pressure conditions

Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) can be considered as a prominent technology for compositional analysis of materials in low-pressure space applications. In space applications, usually LIBS is conducted in a low-pressure environment and proper understanding of the plasma parameters is significant for any improvement in the system. A model is developed to describe the heating and subsequent melting, vaporization and ionization of a target material during LIBS process. A numerical model based on one-dimensional thermal conductivity equation is being used to simulate the target evaporation and a hydrodynamic model is used to simulate plume expansion. Further, an experimental approach of measuring spectral emission from the ablation plume using emission spectroscopy and estimating the plasma state, such as the ionization species, and average plasma temperature, is investigated. An important result of this work is that for different ambient conditions, laser ablation plume dynamics can be estimated.     

纳秒激光烧蚀冲量耦合数值模拟

为研究激光烧蚀靶产生冲量过程和机理, 建立了一个复杂的一维热传导和流体动力学模型. 以空间碎片常见材料Al为例, 用建立的模型数值计算了纳秒脉宽激光烧蚀靶产生的冲量及冲量耦合系数随时间变化情况. 数值结果和已有的实验数据符合的较好. 数值计算表明: 激光脉冲时间内, 靶获得的冲量随时间迅速增加, 在脉冲时间结束后, 冲量变化随时间趋于稳定; 在冲量耦合过程中, 烧蚀等离子体向真空膨胀, 羽流尺度逐渐增大, 同时吸收入射激光能量, 导致激光与靶耦合的能量降低. 关键词： 激光烧蚀 冲量耦合 等离子体     

飞秒多脉冲激光烧蚀金属过程中的能量剩余现象

 提出了描述整个飞秒多脉冲激光烧蚀过程的物理模型,模型考虑了多脉冲烧蚀的新的特点,考虑靶材吸收率随温度的变化和蒸发效应,建立了激光烧蚀不同阶段的热传导方程,给出了相应的定解条件。以金靶材为例,利用有限差分法,求解了热传导动力学方程,分别给出单脉冲和多脉冲作用下相应的靶材电子和离子亚系统的温度演化图像,及多脉冲激光作用下能量剩余系数和脉冲个数的变化规律,发现理论曲线与相应的实验数据吻合较好。研究结果充分证明多脉冲激光烧蚀过程中剩余能量的存在。     

等离子屏蔽效应下飞秒激光照射金箔的分子动力学模拟

采用耦合了双温度模型的分子动力学方法对飞秒激光烧蚀金箔的传热过程进行了模拟研究,考虑了非傅里叶效应,探究了不同激光能流密度下等离子体羽流的屏蔽作用.根据密度分布将激光烧蚀过程中的金箔划分为过热液体层、熔融液体层和固体层,并比较了不同激光能量密度下过热液体层表面发生的相爆炸沸腾现象以及表面温度的变化情况.结果表明,随着激光能量密度的增大,等离子体的屏蔽比例几乎呈线性增大.在激光的烧蚀过程中,金箔的上表面最先经历液体层以及过热液体层,并且随着时间的推移,液体层和过热液体层逐渐向金箔底部移动.过热液体层发生体积移除的相爆炸沸腾是金箔烧蚀的主要方式,随着激光能量的增大,爆炸沸腾发生的时间提前,并且结束的时间相应延后,持续时间变长.     

激光与固体靶面烧蚀等离子体的能量耦合计算

 强激光辐照下固体靶表面迅速汽化产生靶蒸气等离子体,激光穿过等离子体区到达固体靶表面的过程就是激光束与等离子体的能量耦合与交换过程。采用具有五阶精度的WENO差分格式和简易等离子体状态方程模型对激光与等离子体相互作用的复杂物理过程进行了数值计算,分析了激光束能量在等离子体区中的吸收、屏蔽效应等动态耦合规律以及激光支持等离子体前驱冲击波传播。数值模拟结果表明：激光能量是支持靶面等离子体运动的唯一原因,能量屏蔽效应对激光与等离子体能量耦合有很大影响,通过控制激光脉冲宽度,可以合理调节屏蔽效应的影响。     

Modeling of plume dynamics with shielding in laser ablation of carbon

The process of laser ablation of carbon in presence of background gas is simulated numerically. The plume dynamics in laser ablation is important to study for many reasons including temperature of plume particles and shielding of target by previously ablated plumes. Shielding leads directly to the change in energy deposition of incident laser pulse at the target surface and in turn influences the ablation dynamics and amount of material removed. Carbon ablation is studied for single and multiple laser hits typical for synthesis of nanotubes. Two models of correction of ablated velocity and pressure resulting from shielding effect are proposed and investigated. Numerical modeling of this plume dynamics and its integral effect of shielding is challenging due to inherent high nonlinearity of the problem. Some of available numerical techniques handles nonlinearity but are dissipative, e.g. Godunov type schemes. Other techniques are less dissipative but fail to account for strong nonlinearity typical for initial stages of ablation, e.g. the ENO-Roe. To effectively model this highly nonlinear plume dynamics a combination of two of above mentioned schemes is developed so as the numerical evaluation of fluxes is close to their physical values and the scheme has minimum dissipation. The non-monotonic behavior of ablated mass as a function of time duration between two laser pulses is studied.     

激光诱导等离子体的气体动力学和燃烧波扩展速度研究

针对激光对熔石英材料产生致燃损伤过程中存在的激光支持燃烧波,考虑激光作用的温度残余、目标形貌的改变、喷溅物质分布、目标表面气流状况的分布等效应,分阶段对激光支持燃烧波的过程进行建模和仿真研究.通过建立二维轴对称气体动力学模型,模拟研究包含逆韧致辐射、热辐射、热传导和对流过程在内的激光能量传输过程.此外,依据激光支持燃烧波在可见光波段具有明显的辐射特征这一特点,利用阴影法测量了激光对熔石英致燃损伤过程中的燃烧波扩展速度,得到了燃烧波演化过程图像.研究结果表明:在平行激光束作用下,燃烧波的传播是稳态的,气体动力学行为比较稳定;在聚焦激光束作用下,燃烧波的传播是非稳态的.模拟结果中得到的激光支持燃烧波扩展速度及气体动力学结构与实验结果和理论推导结果符合得很好,验证了理论模型的正确性.     

Effects of laser intensity and ambient conditions on the laser-induced plume

Laser ablation presents a promising technique for material processing. The quality of products is strongly influenced by the properties of the laser-induced plume. In compressible flow, the ambient conditions can be transmitted upstream. Therefore, the laser ablation process is strongly affected by the ambient conditions. In this paper, the effects of laser intensity, back pressure and temperature on the laser-induced plume were studied using a numerical model, which calculates the density, pressure and temperature of the laser-induced plume at different laser intensity and ambient conditions. The results are in agreement with experimental results available in the literature and can be used for the optimization of the pulsed laser deposition process.     

脉冲激光沉积动力学研究进展

脉冲激光沉积技术是现代常用的先进薄膜材料制备技术之一.文章在简要介绍脉冲激光沉积技术及其进展的基础上,较全面地介绍了脉冲激光沉积动力学的基本物理图像和动力学构架,深入地探讨了激光烧蚀靶材过程、等离子体膨胀过程和薄膜沉积过程的动力学规律,阐述了我国学者在脉冲激光沉积动力学研究方面的贡献,例如包括脉冲激光沉积三个工艺过程自洽的统一模型,等离子体膨胀的冲击波模型,基于局域能量动量守恒定律的新等离子体演化动力学模型,包括热源项、蒸发项、等离子体屏蔽效应和动态物性参数的烧蚀热传导模型,考虑电子碰撞效应和能带结构变化的修正双温模型,能统一描写从纳秒级到飞秒级脉冲激光烧蚀规律的统一双温模型等.     

Pulsed laser ablation of solids: transition from normal vaporization to phase explosion

We present experimental data on mass removal during 1064-nm pulsed laser ablation of graphite, niobium and YBa₂Cu₃O_7-δ superconductor. Evidence for the transition from normal vaporization to phase explosion has been obtained for these materials, showing a dramatic increase in the ablation rate at the threshold fluences of 22, 15 and 17.5 J/cm², respectively. A numerical model is used to evaluate the ablation rate and temperature distribution within the targets under near-threshold ablation conditions. The results are analyzed from the viewpoint of the vaporized matter approaching the critical point with increasing laser fluence. A possible means of the estimating the thermodynamic critical temperature from the data for nanosecond laser ablation is discussed. It is suggested that the critical temperature of refractory metals is higher than that estimated with the traditional methods due to plasma effects. An analogy with the boiling crisis (the transition from nucleate to film boiling) is drawn to explain the formation of ablation craters with spallated edges. Received: 18 May 2000 / Accepted: 14 July 2000 / Published online: 22 November 2000     

热阻塞效应对激光辐照靶材烧蚀过程的影响分析

研究了百兆瓦级激光烧蚀碳/碳复合材料靶材产生的等离子体吸收激光束能量引起的热阻塞效应。首先,基于逆轫致吸收理论,建立了激光在烧蚀靶材产生的等离子体中的传播模型;然后,基于磁流体理论,得到了等离子体在百兆瓦级激光形成的电磁场中的波动方程,建立了等离子体吸收激光能量引起热阻塞效应的模型。最后,对烧蚀过程中粒子的总密度、吸收系数、靶材表面等效热流随激光持续时间的变化规律以及是否考虑热阻塞效应时,靶面垂直方向的温度场进行了数值模拟。结果表明:等离子体的形成,对激光形成了明显的热阻塞效应,削弱了激光对靶材的烧蚀作用,使粒子总密度、吸收系数、靶材表面等效热流以及靶面垂直方向温度场的变化均呈现为非线性。     

Acoustic wave monitoring of the excimer laser ablation of YBCO high-Tc superconductor

Monitoring the amplitude and the delay of arrival of the pressure waves generated during the interaction of laser pulses with YBCO in air, we can determine the vaporization and the ablation thresholds, the etching rate, the change of the acoustic wave velocity and the effect of plasma shielding on the etching rate. The steep increase of the amplitude and the order-of-magnitude increase of the etching rate above the ablation threshold, suggest that the laser–target coupling mechanism changes from (thermal) vaporization below threshold to a rapid solid-to-gas phase transition. The dumping of the acoustic waves following the ablation with successive laser pulses correlates with the evolution of the YBCO high-T_c superconductor surface morphology, which is known to relate to the deposition rate and the surface morphology of pulsed-laser-deposited high-T_c thin films. Received: 7 January 2000 / Accepted: 9 October 2000 / Published online: 25 July 2001     

Heating effects induced by a pulsed laser in a semi-infinite target in view of the theory of linear systems

The two-dimensional Laplace integral transform technique is used to solve the problem of heating a semi-infinite target induced by the surface absorption of a laser pulse. Mathematical expressions for the surface temperature and the temperature profile within the target are obtained considering cooling and temperature-dependent absorption coefficient at the front surface. The linear behaviour of the system is found to be established for all cases except for that of temperature dependent surface absorptance. As an illustrative example, computations are carried out on Al, Cu, Ag and Au targets using an empirical formula for the temporal distribution of a measured laser pulse.