SHORT AND ULTRASHORT-PULSED LASER-MATERIAL INTERACTIONS: MODELING AND COMPARISONS WITH EXPERIMENTS Tao, Sha Lasers have wide applications in numerous areas. Laser-based applications and technologies often involve certain types of laser-material interactions, many of which have not been sufficiently understood. In this thesis, through the development of the corresponding physics-based models and the comparisons of modeling results with relevant experiments (when available), the laser-material interaction mechanisms during the following processes will be studied: i) laser ablation of semiconductors; ii) laser-material interactions inside microholes; and iii) laser-induced plasma evolution (more detailed conditions of the studied processes are given in the thesis). This research work is expected to improve the understanding of laser-material interaction mechanisms in the above investigated processes, which may provide information that is useful for the improvement of many related existing laser-based applications or technologies and for the development of novel ones. PH.D in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, July 2013 Wu, Benxin 2013 2013-07 Dissertation application/pdf islandora:7550 http://hdl.handle.net/10560/3187 MMAE / Mechanical, Materials, and Aerospace Engineering Illinois Institute of Technology en In Copyright http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/ Restricted Access