Analytical modeling of thermal processes during femtosecond laser pulse action on metallic nanoparticle

Abstract The analytical approach has been proposed for the modeling of the thermal processes during the action of femtosecond laser pulse on metallic (gold) nanoparticle with allowance for the temperature dependences of the electron heat capacity and the electron-phonon coupling factor of gold based on thermal excitation of electron density. This leads to novel dependence of the electron-phonon equal temperature and the coupling factor on the maximal electron temperature. Whole process of femtosecond nanoparticle action has been divided into three stages which include firstly the heating of electron system by pulse, secondly the electron-phonon energy exchange and the establishment of the equal temperature of electrons with lattice, and thirdly the nanoparticle cooling with the corresponding analytical description of each stage. The satisfactory agreement with the computer results for femtosecond pulses validates of used analytical approach. This model can be used for the estimation of laser and nanoparticle parameters in the fields of the applications of femtosecond laser pulses.