Direct simulation monte carlo of pulsed laser ablation of metals with clusterization processes in vapor

Abstract

A mathematical model is proposed to describe laser ablation of metals in vacuum under the action of nanosecond laser pulses of moderate intensity taking into account the processes of cluster formation and decay in the vapor cloud. To describe the laser radiation absorption and metal heating, the thermal model based on the unsteady one-dimensional heat equation with a volume heat source is used, and the method of statistical modelling is employed for modelling vapor expansion and the processes of cluster formation. The efficiency of the proposed complex model is considered by the example of pulsed laser ablation of a niobium target.