Experimental study of different pulse delays on the phenomenon of double shock waves induced by a millisecond–nanosecond combined-pulse laser

We study the motion morphology, distance, and velocity of plasma and laser-induced shock waves induced by a millisecond-nanosecond (ms-ns) combined-pulse laser with different pulse delays on silicon. The laser shadowgraph method is used, and the phenomenon of double laser-induced shock waves has been found while the pulse delay is 1.2-1.8 ms. The controlling variable method is used to study this phenomenon, and it is found that it is mainly related to the ignition of the laser-supported absorption wave induced by the ms laser. Moreover, the plasma expansion velocity increases with the increase of pulse delay, the axial propagation distance of laser-induced shock waves increases monotonically with pulse delay, and the velocity of laser-induced shock waves decreases with the increase of pulse delay.