ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the most typical regimes of laser heating of metals, in such conditions that no compound of any kind is formed as an effect of laser irradiation, and also no intense vaporisation or plasma generation occurs close to the surface. It focuses on the influence upon the laser heating dynamics of the geometrical shape and dimensions of samples, of the dimensions of the irradiation spot and the energy distribution across the laser beam and of the law governing the radiation intensity variation in time. Many metallic samples used in experiments concerning the interaction of laser radiation with solid surfaces, as well as optical components used in conjunction with lasers are manufactured in the form of 'metallic sandwiches'. In a metallic sandwich, metal layers are deposited on a metal base plate. In many instances thin metal films are used as optical elements for lasers.
