Ablation of metals by ultrashort laser pulses: Theoretical modeling and computer simulations

Laser ablation of metals by femto- and picosecond pulses is analytically and numerically studied within the framework of the plasma model for the ablated material. Ablation is initiated by high-power thermal and hydrodynamic waves which propagate into the irradiated material. Analytical expressions for the thermal ablation and for the ablation by the shock wave are obtained. Numerical simulations with the computer code RAPID are in good agreement with analytical results. Translated from Preprint No. 64 of the P. N. Lebedev Physical Institute, Moscow (1996).