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Updated: Feb 10, 2026
Investigation of Early Plasma Evolution Induced by Ultrashort Laser Pulses
Published on: July 2, 2012
Full melting of a two-dimensional complex plasma crystal triggered by localized pulsed laser heating
L Couëdel1,2,3, V Nosenko4, M Rubin-Zuzic4
1Department of Physics and Engineering Physics, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5E2, Canada.
Abstract:
The full melting of a two-dimensional plasma crystal was induced in a principally stable monolayer by localized laser stimulation. Two distinct behaviors of the crystal after laser stimulation were observed depending on the amount of injected energy: (i) below a well-defined threshold, the laser melted area recrystallized; (ii) above the threshold, it expanded outwards in a similar fashion to mode-coupling instability-induced melting, rapidly destroying the crystalline order of the whole complex plasma monolayer. The reported experimental observations are due to the fluid mode-coupling instability, which can pump energy into the particle monolayer at a rate surpassing the heat transport and damping rates in the energetic localized melted spot, resulting in its further growth. This behavior exhibits remarkable similarities with impulsive spot heating in ordinary reactive matter.
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