Abstract
The dynamics of tissue ablation using an Er:YAG laser were studied using flash photography and optical pump-probe techniques. Both normal-spiking-mode and Q-switched Er:YAG laser radiation were used to study the ablation of skin and bone. Time-resolved photographs of the ablation plume were obtained using a microscope-mounted camera together with pulsed illumination from an excimer-pumped dye laser. The velocity of the plume front, obtained from the photographs, was approximately 1400 m/s. The same velocity was also measured using an optical pump-probe technique. Both techniques indicate that material removal occurred after the end of the 90-ns-long Q-switched laser pulse and that each micropulse in the normal-spiking-mode pulse train was capable of ablating and rapidly ejecting tissue.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 217-224 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Applied Physics B Photophysics and Laser Chemistry |
Volume | 52 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Mar 1 1991 |
Keywords
- 87.60Gp
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
- Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)