A theoretical model of the femtosecond laser ablation of semiconductors considering inverse bremsstrahlung absorption

The mechanism of the femtosecond laser ablation of semiconductors is investigated. The collision pro cess of free electrons in a conduction band is depicted by the test particle method, and a theoretical model of nonequilibrium electron transport on the femtosecond timescale is proposed based on the FokkerPlanck equa tion. This model considers the impact of inverse bremsstrahlung on the laser absorption coefficient, and gives the expressions of electron drift and diffusion coefficients in the presence of screened Coulomb potential. Numerical simulations are conducted to obtain the nonequilibrium distribution function of the electrons. The femtosecond laser ablation thresholds are then calculated accordingly, and the results are in good agreement with the experimental results. This is followed by a discussion on the impact of laser parameters on the ablation of semiconductors.

Cluster-assisted generation of multi-charged ions in nanosecond laser ionization of pulsed hydrogen sulfide beam at 1064 and 532 nm

The multi-charged sulfur ions of Sq^＋ （q ≤ 6） have been generated when hydrogen sulfide cluster beams are irradiated by a nanosecond laser of 1064 and 532 nm with an intensity of 10^10- 10^12W.cm^-2. S^6＋ is the dominant multicharged species at 1064 nm, while S^4＋, S^3＋ and S^2＋ ions are the main multi-charged species at 532 nm. A three-step model （i.e., multiphoton ionization triggering, inverse bremsstrahlung heating, electron collision ionizing） is proposed to explain the generation of these multi-charged ions at the laser intensity stated above. The high ionization level of the clusters and the increasing charge state of the ion products with increasing laser wavelength are supposed mainly due to the rate-limiting step, i.e., electron heating by absorption energy from the laser field via inverse bremsstrahlung, which is proportional to λ2,λA being the laser wavelength.

A Fokker-Planck Code for Laser-Produced Plasmas

A Fokker-Planck code is developed based upon Epperlein＇s scheme to investigate laser-produced plasmas in relevance to inertial confinement fusion. The equations are integrated implicitly by time-splitting method. Three test problems are simulated to show the versatility of the code. The results are in good agreement with the existing simulations.

Vlasov-Fokker-Planck Simulations for High-Power Laser-Plasma Interactions

A review is presented on our recent Vlasov-Fokker-Planck(VFP)simulation code development and applications for high-power laser-plasma interactions.Numerical schemes are described for solving the kinetic VFP equation with both electronelectron and electron-ion collisions in one-spatial and two-velocity(1D2V)coordinates.They are based on the positive and flux conservation method and the finite volume method,and these twomethods can insure the particle number conservation.Our simulation code can deal with problems in high-power laser/beam-plasma interactions,where highly non-Maxwellian electron distribution functions usually develop and the widely-used perturbation theories with the weak anisotropy assumption of the electron distribution function are no longer in point.We present some new results on three typical problems:firstly the plasma current generation in strong direct current electric fields beyond Spitzer-H¨arm’s transport theory,secondly the inverse bremsstrahlung absorption at high laser intensity beyond Langdon’s theory,and thirdly the heat transport with steep temperature and/or density gradients in laser-produced plasma.Finally,numerical parameters,performance,the particle number conservation,and the energy conservation in these simulations are provided.