Laser ablation of gadolinium targets in liquids for nanoparticle preparation

Tight focusing of a sub-picosecond laser pulse in a transparent dielectric provides a mean for localized deposition and plasma formation. A micro-explosion in a confined geometry results in a sub-micron cavity formation. Our numerical simulations show the cavity size is strongly dependent on the parameters of the equation of state such as the Grüneisen coefficient or the latent heat of sublimation. A comparison of numerical simulations with experimental data should allow a tuning of equations of state in the domain of extreme parameters