Ultraviolet-laser ablation of skin and other tissue

Abstract

Far-ultraviolet-laser irradiation using a pulsed ArF excimer laser at 193 nm has been reported to etch clean and precise patterns in synthetic organic polymers¹ and in animal and human tissue² by a process termed ablative photodecomposition.³ This process is thought to proceed by a photochemical mechanism rather than the photothermal mechanism produced by conventional medical lasers. The process entails the absorption of the UV radiation in an~1-µm layer at the surface of the organic material.