A study of gelatin ablation induced by a novel design TEA CO2 laser

Ablation of gelatin samples was performed by using a semiconductively preionized TEA CO2 laser, emitting pulses of the lower TEM mode, 100 ns duration, at a repetition rate of 2.4Hz. Ablation rate experiments were performed at a range of fluences from 2J cm−2 to 10J cm−2. Assuming that the absorption coefficient is much larger than the scattering coefficient, experimental data were explained by simple models of ablation. The ablation depth per pulse and the specific absorption depth were calculated from the experimental data.