It's probably more correct to say that it's heated to a plasma / vaporized.The rust heats up and evaporates
Ummm , OK.
Very interesting stuff.The general principle is called Laser Ablation:
That explains it, amazing process.Very short laser pulses remove material so quickly that the surrounding material absorbs very little heat
The green, the black and half the shank! :mrgreen:... think it would take the green off my old pipe stems?