Numerical simulation of the period of surface micro-protrusions generated on titanium and stainless steel targets by femtosecond laser irradiation

Abstract

This article reports our simulation results on a period of surface micro-protrusions, which are generated on titanium and stainless steel 304 target surfaces by femtosecond pulsed laser irradiation. The period of the generated micro-protrusions for varying laser fluence level has been estimated using an approach derived from the linear hydrodynamic Kuramoto Sivashinsky model. Some of the parameters, needed for calculating the period of surface micro-protrusions, have been estimated by numerically solving one-dimensional heat equations. Temperature evolution inside the target upon irradiation with a femtosecond laser pulse has been simulated using the two temperature model until the time electron and lattice subsystems attain thermal equilibrium. Thereafter, temperature evolution in the target has been simulated by defining a single temperature of the target at every position and time. We have validated our theoretical model by comparing simulated variation of period of surface micro-protrusions with incident laser fluence, ablation depth per pulse, and time required for thermalization between electrons and lattice subsystems with the reported experimental data for titanium target. Subsequently, the validated model has been used to simulate the period of surface micro-protrusions which are generated on the stainless steel 304 target via femtosecond laser irradiation.