Abstract: A method of depositing thin coating layers a wide variety of coating materials on a wide variety of substrate by fusing a slurry coating of the coating material onto a coating surface of the substrate by application of energy from a laser. The coating materials and substrates may include pure metals and metal alloys, ceramics, cements, polymers and composites of these materials. The method produces a fused coating layer in a predetermined pattern by the use of a reflective mask, such as a polished metal mask of a metal that is particularly adapted to reflect the wavelengths of the laser energy used to fuse the coating. The method may be implemented as an additive process to produce the fused coating layer, or alternately, it may be implemented as an additive and subtractive process.