A thermal characteristic of melting in laser heating at high pressure
Leonid S Dubrovinsky, Surendra K Saxena
The thermal behaviour of a thin metallic foil heated by a Nd:YAG laser has been simulated. The time – temperature and laser power – temperature plots show a sharp change in slope and on melting the smooth variation of temperature becomes more erratic, turning into an oscillatory pattern as laser power is increased. An explanation of such thermal behaviour is found in theoretical analysis of melting involving parameters of laser intensity, growth of melt, and the differential absorption of laser energy by the solid and melt.