Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 February 2011
Heat transfer processes and phase transitions at the Si-water interface during nanosecond pulsed laser irradiation were studied in real time using transient optical reflectance measurements. Measurements at two probe laser polarizations suggest that during irradiation a steam phase is formed near the Si surface. Relaxation of this phase occurs several hundred nanoseconds after solidification of the Si is completed. Acousto-optical measurements indicate that a shock wave, propagating with the sound velocity in water, is initiated near the Si-water interface.