Molecular Dynamics Study of Short-Pulse Laser Melting, Recrystallization, Spallation, and Ablation of Metal Targets

A hybrid computational model combining classical molecular dynamics method for simulation of fast nonequilibrium phase transformations with a continuum description of the laser excitation and subsequent relaxation of the conduction band electrons is developed. The model is applied for a systematic computational investigation of the mechanisms of short pulse laser interaction with bulk metal targets. The material response to laser irradiation is investigated in three regimes corresponding to the melting and resolidification of the surface region of the target, photomechanical spallation of a single or multiple layers/droplets, and ablation driven by the thermodynamic driving forces. The conditions leading to the transitions between the different regimes and the atomic-level characteristics of the involved processes are established.