Picosecond Laser-Induced Solid-Liquid Phase Transformations in Gallium Arsenide and Silicon

Abstract
Melt-in velocities of picosecond laser-heated Si and GaAs were obtained from optical reflectivity measurements. We observed a velocity increase from about 100 m/s near the melting threshold to many hundred m/s at higher fIuences. With a new technique for picosecond time-resolved observation of atomic desorption we have been able to resolve the evaporation of Ga.