Experimental study of the critical point region of aluminum under the action of the powerful nanosecond laser pulse

This paper is a report on the novel experimental method of the study of the thermodynamic parameters of thin aluminum films in the critical point region. The controlled supercritical state of aluminum is achieved for the first time as a result of the heating of these films by the absorption of the powerful nanosecond pulse of Q-switched Nd:YAG laser at the fundamental wavelength. The possibility is demonstrated to find simultaneously the temporal dependencies of the temperature, of the pressure and of the density of aluminum during the experiment with the thin aluminum films confined at both sides by the quartz glass substrates. These dependencies are obtained taking into account the nonlinear dependence on the incident laser intensity of the light reflection coefficient from the irradiated surface of aluminum. For the first time the thermodynamic cooling cycle of aluminum after its heating by the powerful nanosecond laser pulse is plotted in the space of variables' temperature—pressure and temperature—density that get into the supercritical region. (letter)