LASER-ABLATION OF ABSORBING LIQUIDS - ACOUSTICAL MICROFRAGMENTATION MECHANISM

We have studied experimentally the formation of microdroplets upon the ablation of an aqueous CuCl2 solution by pulsed laser radiation. Lase r fluence dependences are obtained from the number of droplets formed and from their statistical size distribution. The experimental data ob tained can be explained within the framework of our acoustical microfr agmentation model providing for excitation and interference in the fie ld of laser acoustic waves of random phases. The ablation mechanism su ggested is of universal character and manifests itself particularly in the laser ablation of biotissues.