Numerical analysis of pulsating evaporation of condensed matter under the action of laser radiation

A simple model is used in analysis of pulsating evaporation observed during interaction of laser radiation with the surface of an absorbing substance. The pulsations are due to the instability of the metastable state of an overheated liquid phase. Explosive breakup of the metastable phase is described as the appearance of a new evaporation front at the moment when the temperature reaches the overheating limit. A numerical solution of the boundary-value problem of heat conduction in the region of the moving front shows that, according to this model, the process of establishment of the pulsation period is nonmonotonic: the shortest interval is between the first and second explosions after the beginning of illumination. (AIP)