Optical probing of the temperature and pressure transients at a liquid/solid interface due to pulsed laser-induced vaporization

The transient temperature and pressure field development in the excimer laser-induced vaporization of liquids in contact with a solid surface is studied. A thin silicon film, which has temperature-dependant optical properties, is embeeded between an absorbing chromium film and a transparent fused quartz substrate. Static reflectivity measurement is performed to determine the thin film optical properties at elevated temperatures. The transient backward reflectance responses from the silicon layer are compared with heat trader modeling results. The backward reflectance probe is not affected by the mation of bubbles and is successfully employed for the first time to measure non-intrusively the temperature development during the rapid vaporization process. The optical reflectance probes are applied from the front-side and back-side of the sample simultaneously to monitor the dynamic bubble nucleation behavior and transient temperature development, respectively, at various ambrent pressures using a high-pressure cell. The investigation on the effect of ambient pressure on the bubble nucleation threshold combined with the surface temperature measurement determines the thermodynamic state of the superheated metastable liquid at the interface and subsequently the explosion pressure