Dynamics of plasma expansion and shockwave formation in femtosecond laser-ablated aluminum plumes in argon gas at atmospheric pressures

Plasma expansion with shockwave formation during laser ablation of materials in a background gasses is a complex process. The spatial and temporal evolution of pressure, temperature, density, and velocity fields is needed for its complete understanding. We have studied the expansion of femtosecond (fs) laser-ablated aluminum (Al) plumes in Argon (Ar) gas at 0.5 and 1 atmosphere (atm). The expansion of the plume is investigated experimentally using shadowgraphy and fast-gated imaging. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling is also carried out. The position of the shock front measured by shadowgraphy and fast-gated imaging is then compared to that obtained from the CFD modeling. The results from the three methods are found to be in good agreement, especially during the initial stage of plasma expansion. The computed time- and space-resolved fields of gas-dynamic parameters have provided valuable insights into the dynamics of plasma expansion and shockwave formation in fs-pulse ablated Al plumes in Ar gas at 0.5 and 1 atm. These results are compared to our previous data on nanosecond (ns) laser ablation of Al [S. S. Harilal et al., Phys. Plasmas 19, 083504 (2012)]. It is observed that both fs and ns plumes acquire a nearly spherical shape at the end of expansion in Ar gas at 1 atm. However, due to significantly lower pulse energy of the fs laser (5 mJ) compared to pulse energy of the ns laser (100 mJ) used in our studies, the values of pressure, temperature, mass density, and velocity are found to be smaller in the fs laser plume, and their time evolution occurs much faster on the same time scale. The oscillatory shock waves clearly visible in the ns plume are not observed in the internal region of the fs plume. These experimental and computational results provide a quantitative understanding of plasma expansion and shockwave formation in fs-pulse and ns-pulse laser ablated Al plumes in an ambient gas at atmospheric pressures. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.