Abstract: A system for ablating a predetermined area of a substrate material, the system comprising: a processor; a computer readable medium comprising at least one first set of program instructions associated with the ablating protocol stored thereon, the ablating protocol comprising calibration parameters; a laser head associated with a laser power controller for generating a laser pulse having a wavelength, pulse width and output level based on the calibration parameters, wherein the laser pulse is transmitted to the laser head having an optical assembly to shape and focus a beam of the laser pulse on the substrate material; wherein the laser pulse impinges the substrate material and the layer material and emits a plasma plume and sound; sensor to capture light emitted by the plasma plume and sound emitted during the ablation event; and detector means to capture emitted light of the plasma plume associated with the ablation event.