Damage in materials following ablation by ultrashort laser pulses: A molecular-dynamics study

The formation of craters following femtosecond- and picosecond-pulse laser ablation in the thermal regime is studied using a generic two-dimensional numerical model based on molecular-dynamics simulations and the Lennard-Jones potential. Femtosecond pulses are found to produce very clean craters through a combination of etching of the walls and the formation of a very thin heat affected zone. Our simulations also indicate that dislocations are emitted continuously during all of the ablation process (i.e., for hundreds of ps). For picosecond pulses, we observe much thicker heat affected zones which result from melting and recrystallization following the absorption of the light. In this case also, continuous emission of dislocations-though fewer in number-takes place throughout the ablation process.