Femtosecond Laser Ablation of Solid Targets in Vacuum and Low-Pressure Background Gas Atmosphere

The ejection of matter from a solid surface induced by irradiation with a high intensity laser beam leads to a blow off of material moving rapidly away from the surface, a phenomenon termed laser ablation. Studies on laser ablation and its use in different fields (material analysis and processing, laser produced plasma, film deposition, e.g.) have kept the pace of the development of the different laser sources. The advent of ultrashort laser sources triggered the use of pulses of femtosecond duration favoring a variety of new investigations and the development of femtosecond laser ablation of solid targets. This chapter summarizes diverse aspects of femtosecond laser ablation of a solid target in a high vacuum and in a low pressure background gas, namely focusing on metals and semiconductors.