Ultrafast Deformation in Femtosecond Laser Heating

The hot-electron blasting model is extended in this work to describe the ultrafast deformation in thin metal films in the sub-picosecond to picosecond domain. The driving force depends on both the temperature and temperature gradient in the hot electron gas, while the metal lattices remain thermally undisturbed in this highly non-equilibrium regime. The dominating parameters characterizing the ultrafast deformation are identified. The phonon-electron interaction model is used to describe the electron temperature, while renormalization of elastic moduli is accommodated in the dynamic equation of motion. Method of lines is used to solve the nonlinearly coupled equations describing ultrafast deformation in the sub-picosecond domain.