In situ laser depassivation of plasma electrolytically oxididized (PEO) coatings on aluminium was investigated with nanosecond pulses. Ultraviolet radiation of 266 nm was chosen in order to achieve a high absorption in the dielectric coating. The additive accumulation of laser-induced material defects (incubation) affected the depassivation processes. Incubation occurred only at the edges of the ablation craters irradiated by the outer region of the Gaussian beam profile, where the local fluence is below the ablation threshold. The ablation rate in the spot center did not exhibit an incubation effect. Repassivation was interpreted by a linear combination of a high-field and a point defect growth model. At low overpotentials, field gradients affect the process driving the oxide growth at the buried interface. At high fields, corrosion reactions dominate at the oxide/solution interface. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.