The physical mechanisms of short-pulse laser ablation

Time-resolved experiments demonstrate that the removal of material from the surface of metals and semiconductors following irradiation with pico- or femtosecond laser pulses occurs on a nanosecond time scale. It is shown that short-pulse laser ablation can be interpreted in terms of transient thermal processes involving states of matter with unusual thermodynamic, hydrodynamic and optical properties. q2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.