Microscopic mechanism of ultrashort-pulse laser ablation of metals: a molecular dynamics study incorporating electronic entropy effects

Abstract The microscopic mechanism of metal ablation induced by ultrashort laser pulse irradiation is investigated. A two-temperature model scheme combined with molecular dynamics (TTM-MD) developed to incorporate electronic entropy effects into the simulation while satisfying energy conservation law. Simulation TTM-MD reveals that near threshold causes high-energy atom/ion emission and sub-nanometer depth ablation, as observed experimentally, due effect. It also shown effect significant in spallation.