Laser-Induced Shockwave Propagation from Ablation in a Cavity

The propagation of laser-induced shockwaves from ablation inside of cavities was determined from time-resolved shadowgraph images. The temperature and electron number density of the laser-induced plasma was determined from spectroscopic measurements. These properties were compared to those for laser ablation on the flat surface under the same energy and background gas condition. A theoretical model was proposed to determine the amount of energy and vaporized mass stored in the vapor plume based on these measurements.