Mechanisms of microparticle propulsion by laser ablation

Propulsion of gene coated micro-particles is desired for non-intrusive drug delivery inside biological tissue. This has been achieved by the development of a device that uses high power laser pulses. The present paper looks at the mechanisms of micro-particle acceleration. Initially, a high power laser pulse is focused onto the front side of a thin aluminium foil leading to its ablation. The ablation front drives a compression wave inside the foil, thus leading to the formation of a shock wave, which will later reflect from the rear side of the foil, due to acoustic impedance mismatch. The reflected wave will induce an opposite motion of the foil, characterized by a very high speed, of the order of several millimeters per microsecond. Micro-particles, which are deposited on the rear side of the foil, thus get accelerated and ejected as micro-projectiles and are able to penetrate several hundreds of micrometers inside tissue-like material. These processes have been observed experimentally by using high-speed shadowgraphy and considered analytically.