Simulation of the hydrodynamic expansion of plasma plume in pulsed laser ablation of copper

Knowledge of the plasma plume expansion dynamics is important in film deposition and analytical applications. Here we report the use of the Anisimov model to describe the expansion of a plasma plume that emanates from a laser-ablated copper target. The model assumes the plume to be semiellipsoidal in shape and expanding isentropically. The numerical integration was carried out using the fourth-order Runge-Kutta method. We use the crater depths solved using the two-temperature model as the range of initial heights of the expanding plume. The elongation of the plume and the flip-over time are found to be dependent on the initial depth of the plume.