On femto- and attosecond laser pulse polymer photoablation

Estimations pertaining to the few femtosecond (fs) and attosecond (as) laser pulse polymer photoablation are obtained and applied to the polytetrafluoroethylene photoablation by intense few-fs and as laser pulses. In particular, it was shown that the fluence threshold in the case of few-fs and as pulses is expected to be lower than in the case of longer, e.g,, 300 fs pulses. Three possible mechanisms of few-fs and as laser pulse polymer ablation and possibilities of the experimental discrimination between them are discussed. Special consideration was given to the role of the time-energy uncertainty principle which in the case of few-fs and especially as laser pulses must be taken into account when the molecule decay is considered. This uncertainty influences also the kinetics of processes occurring in the irradiated region during the pulse and even long after the laser pulse termination because the initial conditions for the distributions with respect to the energy (e.g., rotational and vibration levels' populations) at the end of the pulse are principally determined only within this uncertainty.