Pulsed neodymium: yttrium aluminum garnet laser (532 nm) melting of crystalline silicon: Experiment and theory

Abstract

Time-resolved reflectivity measurements have been used to determine both the time of onset-of-melting and the duration of melting resulting from frequency-doubled neodymium: yttrium aluminum garnet (532 nm) pulsed-laser irradiation of crystalline silicon. Substantially shorter surface melt durations were obtained with increasing energy density El than were reported earlier by others. Thermal melting model calculations, which take into account the temperature-dependent optical and thermal properties of silicon, are in substantial agreement with the observed El dependence of the onset of melting and surface melt duration. Inclusion of intensity-dependent absorption in the modeling further improves this agreement.