LASMD

Laser Ablation of Solids by Molecular Dynamics



Solid State Physics

Universität Stuttgart
Institut für Theoretische und Angewandte Physik (ITAP)

We study the laser ablation by molecular dynamics. Femto-second laser pulses interact with the electron gas in the material. The energy is transmitted to the lattice which heats up the material and leads to the expulsion of atoms or liquid drops depending on the initial conditions. A speciality of our simulations is the two-temperature model: the electrons are modelled as a continuum which is coupled to the molecular dynamics simulation of the atoms. The major goal of the proposed project, which is embedded in the SFB 716 "`Dynamische Simulation von Systemen mit großen Teilchenzahlen"', is to scale up the simulations as far as possible and to reach sample size that are larger than the tiniest laser spots studied in experiment. Further more plan research along several directions: simulating alloys, metals covered with liquid, modeling the shape and time evolution of the laser beam, and testing the behavior of pre-damaged samples. A major part of the SFB 716 proposal is to extend the current model from metals to covalent materials which requires the modeling of a varying of charge carriers.