Аннотация:Physical mechanisms and theoretical models of laser ablation are discussed in this chapter. Among the basic models we present the surface vaporization model, bulk models for polymer ablation, e.g., photothermal and photochemical, photophysical ablation model and a two-temperature model for subpicosecond ablation of metals. For various mechanisms typical associated phenomena are qualitatively analyzed and methods for studying them quantitatively considered. Calculations of ablation kinetics for various materials are presented and compared with experimental data.