ON THE DEPLANATION OF A CRYSTAL FACE IN THE CONDITIONS OF SURFACE DIFFUSION

We consider the experiment in which a face of a monocrystal is exposed lo a short-time laser irradiation (10^-710^-6san(6-15)x 10^4MW/nr). It is found experimentally[ I, 2] that, as a result of such an exposure, the plane surface can become wavy. The profile of [his surface obtained with the aid of the atomic-force microscope P4-SPM is presented in the accompanying figure. The wavy surface of a stainless steel mirror is shown in Fig. a, in which light areas correspond to ridges, whereas dark areas to valleys. Figures b and c depict the profiles of this surface constructed across (along the line A-A) and along (along the line B-B) the wave crests, respectively. The lengths of the waves across and along the crests are approximately equal to 1 mu m and 1.75 mu m,respectively. Theamplitudeoflhesewavesisabout0.02mu m. In the present paper, we attempt to explain this effect in the language ol coniinuum mechanics. This work is a continuation of [3, 4].