A detailed study on melting dynamics influenced by the pulse laser-induced transient heating

This paper presents a detailed study on the melting dynamics induced by the pulse laser heat transfer process. A numerical model has been developed in an open-source based computational fluid dynamics (CFD) platform, known as OpenFOAM. Upon development, its predictions have been compared with the experimental results of nanosecond pulse laser annealing of silicon with a pulse duration of 30 ns and wavelength (λ) of 308 nm, in which an excellent agreement with the experimental results for both of the melt depth and the melting duration has been observed. In the second part of this study, the numerical model has been implemented to explain the pulse laser-induced melting dynamics of silicon wafers irradiated with KrF excimer laser, which is similar to the cases used for processing of industry compatible photovoltaic solar cells. Since the results explain how thermal process, induced by the transient energy, controls the propagation of melting dynamics, this contribution can be used as a guide for designing new laser systems as well as optimisation of a chosen application.