Numerical Analysis of Optical Damage in Dielectrics Irradiated by Ultra-Short Pulsed Lasers

극초단 펄스 레이저에 의한 절연체의 광학 손상 해석

  • Published : 2004.11.03

Abstract

The present article reports extensive numerical results on the non-local characteristics of ultra-short pulsed laser-induced breakdowns of fused silica ($SiO_{2}$) by using the multivariate Fokker-Planck equation. The nonlocal type of multivariate Fokker-Planck equation is modeled on the basis of the Boltzmann transport formalism to describe the ultra-short pulsed laser-induced damage phenomena in the energy-position space, together with avalanche ionization, three-body recombination, and multiphoton ionization. Effects of electron avalanche, recombination, and multiphoton ionization on the electronic transport are examined. From the results, it is observed that the recombination becomes prominent and contributes to reduce substantially the rate of increase in electron number density when the electron density exceeds a certain threshold. With very intense laser irradiation, a strong absorption of laser energy takes place and an initially transparent solid is converted to a metallic state, well known as laser-induced breakdown. It is also found that full ionization is provided at intensities above threshold, all further laser energy is deposited within a thin skin depth.

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