A simple analytical method for the characterization of the melt region of a semiconductor under focused laser irradiation

A simple analytical approach, based on an energy balance equation, is introduced to describe the melt region of a semiconductor under a focused pulsed laser irradiation. In this model, an approximate analytical solution of the time-dependent hemispherical melt radius is calculated, and satisfactorily compared with experiments on silicon irradiated with a focused, 1 μs beam diameter, visible laser of a few watts with pulse widths of 0.03–10 μs.