Influence of hydrodynamic perturbations on laser evaporation of metals with a phase interface

An investigation was made of the behavior of the recoil pressure p(t) under quasisteady conditions of metal evaporation (Pb, Bi) induced by submillisecond neodymium laser pulses. The experimentally determined dependence p on the radiation intensity I did not agree with the predictions of the thermal model in which the ratio p/I depended weakly on I . This discrepancy could be explained allowing for the radial displacement of the melt from the irradiation zone.