New method accurately measures laser ablation in aluminum

Though EOS models accurately describe the thermodynamic properties of a material, they have proven inefficient in sufficiently addressing laser ablation. Previous approaches relied on post-irradiation analysis, making it difficult or impossible to track the evolution of the material. To overcome these limitations, a group of researchers applied advanced mathematics to compare unshocked aluminum to the amount of ablated aluminum. This method provided proper measurement of aluminum ablation within the first ten picoseconds of the laser’s interaction.