by Courtney Rubin, NY Times Journal of Dermatology, 2.25.2016
A new laser has been widely hailed as the first major advancement in tattoo removal in 20 years. Called a picosecond laser, because it fires pulses at a trillionth of a second, it works the same way that the previous generation of lasers did, which is by breaking down the ink so that the body can absorb it.
This is a useful article if you are considering tattoo removal.
This article also includes a discussion on laser tattoo removal by non-medical technicians.