Mass partitioning in fragmenting tin sheets

We experimentally study the mass partitioning of a fragmenting liquid sheet formed after the impact of a ns-laser pulse on a tin microdroplet. We present the temporal evolution of individual liquid fractions: the sheet and its bounding rim, ligaments protruding from the rim, and droplets shed by the ligaments. Our results show that the temporal evolution of the mass partitioning between the sheet, rim, ligaments, and fragments is independent of the Weber number—following Wang and Bourouiba [J. Fluid Mech.,935, A29 (2022)] for the analogous droplet-pillar impact case. The full mass partitioning is accounted for by quantifying the further contributions unique to the laser-droplet impact case: that of a centrally located mass remnant, and the mass ablated by the laser pulse. These findings can be employed to optimize the mass utilization of the liquid tin that is used as target material in the production of extreme ultraviolet light for nanolithography.