On the Metal–Nonmetal Transition under Nanosecond Laser Ablation

A. A. Samokhin^a, P. A. Pivovarov^a^, *, E. V. Shashkov^a, and I. A. Stuchebryukhov^a

^aProkhorov General Physics Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 119991 Russia

Correspondence to: *e-mail: p_pivovarov@hotmail.com

Received 2 January, 2021

Abstract—Behavior of liquid mercury exposed to 25-ns laser pulses is investigated using acoustic and optical diagnostics. It is found that when pressure pulses generated in the target change, an additional peak appears as the laser intensity increases, which can be due to the motion of the metal–nonmetal transition front. This assumption agrees with a decrease in the reflected laser pulse and with the behavior of the pressure pulses in the case of free and loaded irradiated surfaces.

Keywords: metal–nonmetal transition, nanosecond laser ablation, explosive boiling

DOI: 10.3103/S1541308X21030110