Cylindrically and non-cylindrically symmetric expansion dynamics of tin microdroplets after ultrashort laser pulse impact

In this work, the expansion dynamics of liquid tin micro-droplets irradiated by femtosecond laser pulses were investigated. The effects of laser pulse duration, energy, and polarization on ablation, cavitation, and spallation dynamics were studied using laser pulse durations ranging from 220 fs to 10 ps, with energies ranging from 1 to 5 mJ, for micro-droplets with an initial radius of 15 and 23 μm. Using linearly polarized laser pulses, cylindrically asymmetric shock waves were produced, leading to novel non-symmetric target shapes, the asymmetry of which was studied as a function of laser pulse parameters and droplet size. A good qualitative agreement was obtained between smoothed-particle hydrodynamics simulations and high-resolution stroboscopic experimental data of the droplet deformation dynamics.