Laser ablation is ideal for the production of precise electrodes and electronic circuits from conductive coated substrates. The laser source and wavelength used depend on the material to process and the function of the finished component. For example, UV, green, fiber, and YAG lasers all work very well for ablating conductive coatings from substrates. The specific laser chosen for these materials is based first on the type of coating to remove and then the type of substrate below the coating:  

• Very thin coatings tend to be transparent to fiber and YAG laser wavelengths but ablate very well with shorter wavelengths, such as UV laser wavelengths.
• Thick conductive coatings may take a good deal of energy to ablate. In this case, processing with the UV laser wavelength may be slow to the point where it may not be a viable solution. Instead, a fiber or YAG laser is a good choice.

For laser ablation, CO₂ lasers typically are not used to remove conductive coatings from polymers. Generally, polymers absorb the CO₂ laser wavelengths, causing damage to the substrate layer under the conductive coating. The polymer underneath can also be damaged just from the amount of heat generated during the conductive coating’s vaporization.