Abstract
The problem of heating a finite homogeneous silver selenide slab induced by time dependent laser irradiance is studied. The Fourier Series Expansion Technique and the Parabolic Heat Conduction Equation (PHCE) are considered to obtain the required temperature field within the solid target. The critical time required to initiate melting at the front surface and the time interval required to initiate phase transition for the considered slab are computed as an illustrative example. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.