A system and method for removing a portion of a tattoo using multi-photon ablation is described. A localized, multi-photon processing event is initiated within a vicinity of a pigment in order to remove it. The multi-photon event requires a relatively low energy, but very intense, pulse of light. The low amount of energy per pulse allows ablation of the material to be highly localized, with negligible thermal damage to surrounding material. The multi-photon event may be initiated by focusing a suitable electromagnetic pulse, such as a 2 mJ laser pulse having a pulse duration of 100-300 femtoseconds, into a focal volume small enough that the intensity exceeds 1011 Watts/cm2. A suitably configured Ti:Sapphire solid state laser provides such pulses at 1-10 kHz. By repeating the multi-photon event along the location of a tattoo, the tattoo may be removed with minimal damage to the surrounding tissue.
