Mesoscopic model for the laser-target interaction

We have developed a mesoscopic model for the study of pulsed laser ablation of transparent granular ceramics. The model enables the understanding of several features that happen at the surface of a transparent target and which play an important role in the evolution of the evaporation process. The results show that electron emission happens early, much before atom evaporation. High defect concentration regions (including grain boundaries, surface) are crucial for energy absorption. The model also predicts the generation of high intensity electric fields in places with high defect concentration, such as grain boundaries. Low fluences should have selective species removal, but higher fluences should give congruent removal. The dependence of the density of generated electrons, the evaporated species and energy on the material properties is included.