A Numerical Simulation of a Carbon Black Suspension Cell Via a Time-Reversed, Double Layer Compute Algorithm

A numerical simulation of a carbon black suspension cell is explored which models a laser-induced plasma within a liquid ethanol medium of approximately 1mm thickness. The simulation model assumes a laser pulse with a pulse width of approximately 9 nsecs propagating in the left-to-right direction striking the front surface of the medium and focusing to a spot within the liquid volume. When the energy density within a given irradiated volume is sufficiently high, it ignites the carbon particles and generates a large number of free electrons, i.e. a plasma. The plasma couples with the in-coming laser energy on a pico second timescale, thereby attenuating the intensity of the remaining pulse as it traverses the medium. The simulation divides the sample into discrete layers and models the propagation of the plasma through the course of a single laser pulse containing a total fluence of 1 Joule/cm 2. A new double layer, time-reversed algorithm is employed which modifies and extends the capabilities of the existing code. The older version is used as a baseline for comparison with the new program.