Temporal characteristics of acoustic waves appearing when a laser pulse interacts with a metal surface

A theoretical and experimental investigation was made of the excitation of elastic vibrations when optical radiation of high power density interacts with the surface of a solid body. It is shown that the characteristic wavelength of the acoustic waves which are then formed is determined by the radius of curvature of the inelastic region and not by the crater diameter. As a consequence, natural vibrations of a massive irradiated sample can be excited with the laser beam focused down into a relatively small spot.