Pulsed laser ablation of soft biological tissue was studied at 10.6-,2.94-,and 2.08-μm wavelengths.The ablation effects were assessed by means of optical microscope,the ablation crater depths were measured with reading microscope.It was shown that Er:YAG laser produced the highest quality ablation with clear, sharp cuts following closely the spatial contour of the incident beam and the lowest fluence threshold.The pulsed CO_2 laser presented the moderate quality ablation with the highest ablation efficiency.The craters drilled with Ho:YAG laser were generally larger than the incident laser beam spot,irregular in shape,and clearly dependent on the local morphology of biotissue.The ablation characteristics,including fluence threshold and ablation efficiency,varied substantially with wavelength.It is not evident that water is the only dominant chromophore in tissue. Pulsed laser ablation of soft biological tissue was studied at 10.6-, 2.94-, and 2.08-μm wavelengths. The ablation effects were assessed by means of optical microscope, the ablation crater depths were measured with reading microscope. It was shown that Er: YAG laser produced the highest quality ablation with clear, sharp cuts following closely the spatial contour of the incident beam and the lowest fluence threshold. pulsed CO_2 laser presented the moderate quality ablation with the highest ablation efficiency.The craters drilled with Ho: YAG laser were generally larger than the incident laser beam spot, irregular in shape, and clearly dependent on the local morphology of biotissue. ablation characteristics, including fluence threshold and ablation efficiency, varied substantially with wavelength. It is not evident that water is the only dominant chromophore in tissue.