Lasers can readily remove very thin layers from small areas
of a material and can thus be used both to control the
structure of the surface and to determine its composition.
Laser ablation thus has a wide variety of applications -
from re-shaping the cornea of the eye to correct vision and
micro-machining electronic devices, to detection of minute
contaminants on catalysts. This book is the proceedings of
one ofthe first workshops held on this topic.