Scientists Use Green Laser Pulses to Clean Ink From Century-Old Paper (opens in new tab)

Researchers tested pulsed nanosecond Nd:YAG laser cleaning on aged paper artificially contaminated with stamp ink, using microscopy, spectroscopy, colorimetry, roughness analysis, tensile testing, and Taguchi-based optimization. The study found that optimized laser parameters could remove ink while preserving measured surface, chemical, and mechanical indicators, although long-term aging studies are still needed.