Numerical simulation and analysis on 3D temperature field of the metal ablated with femtosecond pulse laser

Abstract

To describe femtosecond laser ablation on the metal, numerical simulation on the basis of the double-temperature equation for three-dimension temperature field of the copper ablated with femtosecond pulse laser was performed by finite-difference method. Based on imbalance of the electronic and lattice's temperatures, the calefactive process of the electron and the lattice was obtained, respectively. The dependence of the electron-lattice coupling time on irradiated laser fluence was studied. The ablation depth and the ablation radius of the copper for single pulse fluence were calculated. The dependence of the start ablation (phase explosion arises) time of the copper on irradiated laser fluence was studied. The results indicate that the material jet due to phase explosion is earlier and the duration of ablation is longer with the increase of the laser fluence. When the laser fluence is higher than 1.5J/cm2 the ablation start time is about 2-3 ps.