Dynamics of the plumes produced by ultrafast laser ablation of metals

We have analyzed ultrafast laser ablation of a metallic target (Nickel) in high vacuum addressing both expansion dynamics of the various plume components (ionic and nanoparticle) and basic properties of the ultrafast laser ablation process. While the ion temporal profile and ion angular distribution were analyzed by means of Langmuir ion probe technique, the angular distribution of the nanoparticulate component was characterized by measuring the thickness map of deposition on a transparent substrate. The amount of ablated material per pulse was found by applying scanning white light interferometry to craters produced on a stationary target. We have also compared the angular distribution of both the ionic and nanoparticle components with the Anisimov model. While the agreement for the ion angular distribution is very good at any laser fluence (from ablation threshold up to approximate to 1 J/cm(2)), some discrepancies of nanoparticle plume angular distribution at fluencies above approximate to 0.4 J/cm(2) are interpreted in terms of the influence of the pressure exerted by the nascent atomic plasma plume on the initial hydrodynamic evolution of the nanoparticle component. Finally, analyses of the fluence threshold and maximum ablation depth were also carried out, and compared to predictions of theoretical models. Our results indicate that the absorbed energy is spread over a length comparable with the electron diffusion depth L-c (approximate to 30 nm) of Ni on the timescale of electron-phonon equilibration and that a logarithmic dependence is well-suited for the description of the variation in the ablation depth on laser fluence in the investigated range. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3475149]