Measurement of the energy lost in the formation of a surface plasma on irradiation of metal and insulator targets with CO2 laser pulses

Measurements were made of the delay time of plasma formation on irradiation of metal and insulator targets with microsecond CO₂ laser radiation pulses. An investigation was made of the dependences of the energy losses in forming a surface plasma on various parameters of the laser radiation. The experiments were performed in a one-dimensional arrangement with three pulse durations. The results were analyzed on the basis of an evaporation mechanism of low-threshold optical breakdown.