  We report on the experimental studies of the deformation and fragmentation of
liquid metal droplets by picosecond and subpicosecond laser pulses. The
experiments were performed with laser irradiance varying in 10E13-10E15 W/cm^2
range. The observed evolution of the droplet shape upon the impact dramatically
differs from the previously reported for nanosecond laser pulses. Instead of
flattening the droplet undergoes rapid asymmetric expansion and transforms into
a complex shape which can be interpreted as two conjunct spheroid shells and
finally fragments. We explain the described hydrodynamic response to the
ultra-short impact as a result of the propagation of the laser-induced
convergent shockwave through the volume of droplet.
