Heating dynamics of CO2-laser irradiated silica particles with evaporative shrinking: measurements and modeling

The heating dynamics of CO2-laser heated micron-sized particles were determined for temperatures <3500K measured using infrared imaging. A coupled mass and energy conservation model is derived to predict single particle temperatures and sizes, which were compared to data from particles deposited on non-absorbing substrates to assess the relevant heat transfer processes. Analysis reveals substrate conduction dominates all other heat losses, while laser absorption determined from Mie theory is strongly modulated by particle evaporative shrinking. This study provides insights on the light coupling and heating of particle arrays where the material optical properties are temperaturedependent and particle size changes are significant.