A simple model for flyer velocity from laser-induced forward transfer with a dynamic release layer

Abstract A simple 1-D model has been developed for the velocity of flyers in vacuum generated by laser-induced forward transfer (LIFT) with a dynamic release layer (DRL). It is an extension of a laser ablation model for metal flyer plates based on the Gurney model of explosive output for driving metal fragments. The model has been extended to the bilayer system of a DRL overlain with a transfer layer. The suitability of the model has been checked with experimental velocity data obtained from shadowgraphy. The experiments used bilayer samples of triazene polymer/aluminium, ablated from the backside through the substrate at reduced pressure (5 × 10−2 mbar). The results suggest that the Gurney energy approach provides the basis of a viable, physically relevant, algebraic model for LIFT, but other loss mechanisms still need be incorporated, particularly thermal loss into the fused silica substrate.