Non-equilibrium energy transport and entropy production due to laser short-pulse irradiation

Laser short-pulse heating of a nano-size wire is considered and entropy generation rate is predicted during the heating pulse. The analytical solution of the heat equation is obtained using the Lie point symmetry for the laser short-pulse heating. The nano-size wire is assumed to be symmetric along its y-axis. Laser pulse intensity is considered to be Gaussian at the irradiated surface while the exponential decay of the laser pulse is incorporated in the time domain. It is found that surface temperature variation in the lattice subsystem almost follows the laser pulse intensity distribution at the surface. Entropy generation rate attains low values along the symmetry axis and it increases considerably in the region of the nano-size wire edges. This behavior is associated with the temperature gradient, which attains high values in the region close to the nano-size wire edge.