The interactions of femtosecond laser pulses with materials, especially layered systems, are of interest to many fields.  Femtosecond laser pulses are shorter than the time it takes for electrons in irradiated materials to establish a thermodynamic equilibrium with phonons. As result, the laser pulse produces effects very different from those observed with longer pulses or continuous wave lasers. For this reason, femtosecond laser-based methods are used for production of microfluidic, microelectromechanical, and data storage systems.  In addition to materials processing applications, ultra-short pulsed lasers are used to probe chemical reactions using chemical spectroscopic methods.  Although there have been many studies on femtosecond laser pulse interactions with metal, semiconducting and dielectric substrates and a few studies on metals with overlayers and adsorbed molecules, there has not yet been a comprehensive study into the effects of substrate electronic and thermal properties on femtosecond laser pulse interactions with organic overlayer-substrate systems.  In this research, we are investigating the related energy transfer mechanisms.