  The propulsion of a liquid indium-tin micro-droplet by nanosecond-pulse laser
impact is experimentally investigated. We capture the physics of the droplet
propulsion in a scaling law that accurately describes the plasma-imparted
momentum transfer, enabling the optimization of the laser-droplet coupling. The
subsequent deformation of the droplet is described by an analytical model that
accounts for the droplet's propulsion velocity and the liquid properties.
Comparing our findings to those from vaporization-accelerated mm-sized water
droplets, we demonstrate that the hydrodynamic response of laser-impacted
droplets is scalable and independent of the propulsion mechanism.
