Expansion dynamics and radiation absorption in plumes induced by irradiation of a copper target by single and multiple nanosecond laser pulses in the doughnut beam mode

Abstract

Abstract The two-dimensional kinetic simulations of the plume expansion process induced by irradiation of a copper target in argon background gas with nanosecond laser pulses in the doughnut beam mode are performed. The target is irradiated by single and double laser pulses, as well as by bursts consisting of up to 35 individual pulses. The simulations are based on a hybrid computational model that includes the direct simulation Monte Carlo method, where the ionization and absorption of laser radiation are considered. The numerical results are systematically compared with the results obtained for a Gaussian beam at the same pulse energy, peak fluence, and peak intensity. The structure of the plumes induced by a doughnut beam is found to drastically differ from the structure of the plumes induced by a Gaussian beam. The doughnut beam initially induces a toroidal shock wave. The self-interaction of this shock at the axis of symmetry results in the formation of multiple internal shock waves that strongly increase the plume temperature and density. The interaction between plumes induced by a double pulse in the doughnut beam mode occurs in two distinct regimes depending on the beam size and inter-pulse separation time. At a relatively small peak laser fluence, the effect of plasma shielding in the plumes induced by a burst of pulses in the doughnut beam mode is found to be smaller compared to the case of a Gaussian beam. At a relatively large fluence, the simulations reveal the opposite trend, but the amount of vaporized material is found to be always larger for a doughnut beam than for a Gaussian one. The obtained results suggest that the absorption of laser radiation in plasma plumes induced by nanosecond laser pulses can be tuned by changing the radial distribution of energy in the incident laser beam.