ABSTRACT
In 1982, two articles describing the ablation of organic material by excimer lasers appeared in the scientific literature.
Those initial studies demonstrated that intense pulses of ultraviolet radiation precisely etched submicron layers from synthetic polymer surfaces and caused negligible thermal damage to the remaining target. Such microscopic accuracy generated much interest in the materials processing community, as well as in several medical disciplines. Within 1 year, argon fluoride (ArF,
λ
= 193 nm) excimer laser ablation was being explored as a means of reshaping the surface of the cornea to correct for vision defects.
Soon thereafter, xenon chloride excimer laser radiation (XeCl,
