Ultrafast x-ray measurement of laser heating in semiconductors:: Parameters determining the melting threshold -: art. no. 193306

The pulse-width dependence of thermal melting and ablation thresholds in germanium and gallium arsenide is correlated to direct, ultrafast x-ray measurements of laser-heated depths. The heating dynamics, determined by the interplay of nonlinear optical absorption, delayed Auger heating, and high-density carrier diffusion, explain the scaling laws of thermal melting thresholds in different semiconductors.