Abstract: To form thin film electrical components, a thin film having desired electrical properties is deposited on a substrate of dissimilar material. Thermal energy from a computer guided laser is used to remove selected portions of the thin film. In accordance with one aspect of the invention, the thin film is an electrically conducting material, such as platinum or doped platinum, and the substrate is metal foil, such as copper foil. The thermal energy from the laser ablates away portions of the thin film. In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a layer of zero valence metal is deposited on a dielectric material substrate which has a melting point or decomposition temperature substantially above that of the zero valence metal. The zero valence metal layer is patterned to form electronic circuitry components by computer guided laser which provides sufficient thermal energy to boil away selected portions of the zero valence metal layer.

Abstract: As a means of providing a patterned coating on a substrate, either decorative or functional, coating powder is applied to a substrate. Then the coating powder is fused or fused and cured in selected portions by computer-guided laser. One application of the invention is to fuse coating powder into a resist pattern for the production of printed circuitry.