Suppresion of ablation in femtosecond double pulse laser experiments

M. E. Povarnitsyn (1) , Tatiana Itina (2) , K. V. Khishchenko , Pavel Levashov

1 LP3 - Laboratoire Lasers, Plasmas et Procédés photoniques
2 LHC - Laboratoire Hubert Curien [Saint Etienne]

We report the physical reasons of a curious decrease in the crater depth observed for long delays in experiments with two successive femtosecond pulses. Detailed hydrodynamic modeling demonstrates that the ablation mechanism is dumped when the delay between the pulses exceeds the electron-ion relaxation time. In this case, the interaction of the second laser pulse with the expanding target material leads to the formation of the second shock wave suppressing the rarefaction wave created by the first pulse. The evidence of this effect follows from the pressure and density profiles obtained at different delays after the first laser pulse.

Domains: Engineering Sciences [physics]; Chemical and Process Engineering

M. E. Povarnitsyn, Tatiana Itina, K. V. Khishchenko, Pavel Levashov. Suppresion of ablation in femtosecond double pulse laser experiments. Physical Review Letters, 2009, 103, pp.195002. ⟨10.1103/PhysRevLett.103.195002⟩. ⟨ujm-00472032⟩