Laser-induced incandescence of carbon surface at various values of ambient air pressure

A phenomenon of thermal emission, which is well-known as laser-induced incandescence, is observed when a light-absorbing object is heated up to a temperature of several thousand Kelvin by nanosecond laser pulses. Laser-induced incandescence (LII) of polished carbon surface at different values of ambient air pressure was studied. A decrease in ambient air pressure led to an increase of the LII intensity in about 1.5 times and extension of LII pulse fall time by about 70 percent due to changes in the thermal conditions inside the material sample. The model of the porous carbon bulk is proposed for explanation of the observed effect.