Observations of plasma formation during picosecond laser ablation of metals

Samuel S. Mao; Xianglei Mao; Ralph Greif; Richard E. Russo

doi:10.1117/12.380798

23 March 2000 Observations of plasma formation during picosecond laser ablation of metals

Samuel S. Mao, Xianglei Mao, Ralph Greif, Richard E. Russo

Proceedings Volume 3935, Laser Plasma Generation and Diagnostics; (2000) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.380798
Event: Symposium on High-Power Lasers and Applications, 2000, San Jose, CA, United States

Abstract

We present experimental observations of plasma formation during single picosecond laser pulse (35 ps, 1064 nm) ablation of copper in air. We studied an early-stage air plasma which forms before the emergence of a material vapor plume. Using picosecond time-resolved shadowgraphs and interferograms, we measured the evolution of this air plasma that has an electron density on the order of 10²⁰ cm^-3. At post-pulse times, the longitudinal expansion of the plasma was found to be suppressed, while a power-law relation, r approximately t^1/2, was obtained for the temporal lateral expansion of the plasma radius. The results indicate that a large amount of the overall energy from the picosecond laser pulse is absorbed by the early-stage air plasma.

Citation Download Citation

Samuel S. Mao, Xianglei Mao, Ralph Greif, and Richard E. Russo "Observations of plasma formation during picosecond laser ablation of metals", Proc. SPIE 3935, Laser Plasma Generation and Diagnostics, (23 March 2000); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.380798

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