Temporally resolved imaging of silicon surfaces melted with intense picosecond 1-μm laser pulses

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Abstract
The reflectivity of crystalline silicon irradiated by intense 46-ps pulses at 1 μm has been measured using an optical pump-probe technique and also by imaging the irradiated sample surface on to a vidicon. We clearly resolve dramatic fluence-dependent reflectivity changes across the profile of the melted region that are consistent with rapid melting within the pulse duration and the formation of a superheated liquid layer.