The response of cemented tungsten carbide and of titanium carbonitride was investigated with respect to damage and ablation properties, under interaction with ultrashort laser pulses. These carbide materials present high microhardness and are of significant interest for tribological applications. The experiments were carried out in air with a commercial Ti:sapphire laser at energy densities on the target up to 6.5 J/cm(2). The irradiated target surfaces were analyzed with optical, SEM and AFM techniques and the damage and ablation threshold values were determined using the measured spot diameters and the calculated incident energy density distributions. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.