After two decades, laser ionization mass analysis is rapidly gaining importance in several areas of analytical chemistry. It is the more mature understanding of laser-solid interaction acquired during the early applications of laser ionization that has led to the redefinition of its place in analytical chemistry and to the discovery of several new methods. The pulsed laser in the new context is viewed as a tool of depositing a tunable amount of energy into a chosen degree of freedom of the material. The book is centred on this concept with special emphasis on proven or promising applications. Laser-solid interaction is utilized in diamond synthesis, high temperature superconductor preparation, desorption of large biomolecules and sampling solids for chemical analysis