Patent Number: 
Section: claims

1. A method of forming a microscopic structure on a substrate of a material having a first ablation threshold using a laser beam, the laser beam having a spot size, the method comprising:forming a mask of a material having a second ablation threshold on the substrate surface using a fabrication process capable of producing mask features smaller than the laser beam spot size, the second ablation threshold being higher than the first ablation threshold; anddirecting the laser beam toward the substrate surface, the laser beam having a fluence above the first ablation threshold and having a spot size that is larger than the smallest design features of the mask, the mask protecting portions of the substrate that are covered by the mask to produce features in the substrate by laser processing, the features in the processed substrate being smaller than the laser beam spot size. 2. The method of claim 1 in which forming a mask on the substrate surface includes forming a mask using electron beam-assisted deposition or ion-beam assisted deposition. 3. The method of claim 1 in which forming a mask on the substrate surface includes forming a mask using photolithography. 4. The method of claim 1 in which forming a mask pattern on a substrate surface includes depositing a pattern that absorbs sufficient laser radiation to prevent damage to the substrate under the mask from the laser beam. 5. The method of claim 1 in which forming a mask pattern on the substrate surface includes depositing a pattern that reflects sufficient laser radiation to prevent damage to the substrate under the mask from the laser beam. 6. The method of claim 1 in which directing the laser beam toward the substrate surface comprises directing an ultra-fast pulsed laser beam toward the substrate surface. 7. The method of claim 1 in which forming a mask pattern on the substrate surface includes depositing multiple layers of materials to form the mask. 8. The method of claim 1 in which directing the laser beam toward the substrate surface includes selectively removing the substrate material and leaving mask material to protect masked portions of the substrate. 9. The method of claim 1 in which directing a laser beam toward the substrate surface includes removing material from the substrate in regions not covered by the mask. 10. The method of claim 1 in which directing the laser beam toward the substrate surface includes directing a laser beam having a fluence of between 001 J/cm2 and 100 J/cm2. 11. The method of claim 1 in which directing the laser beam toward the substrate surface includes directing a laser beam having a fluence just above the value required to micromachine the substrate. 12. The method of claim 1 in which directing the laser beam toward the substrate surface includes directing a laser beam having a fluence greater than the first ablation threshold and less than the second ablation threshold. 13. The method of claim 1 in which forming a mask includes forming a mask having an optical transmissivity sufficiently low so as to prevent damage to the underlying substrate through the mask. 14. The method of claim 1 in which forming a mask includes controlling the transmittance of the mask by controlling both the composition and thickness of the masking material. 15. The method of claim 1 in which forming a mask includes forming a mask mask that is sufficiently robust to prevent damage to the substrate during the micromachining operation. 16. The method of claim 1 which forming a mask includes forming a mask comprising a graded structure. 17. The method of claim 1 in which forming a mask comprises forming different regions of the mask have different thicknesses, materials, densities or other properties that influence the amount of optical transmission in different areas of the mask. 18. The method of claim 1 directing a laser beam toward the substrate includes removing the mask at a sufficiently slow rate so that the substrate under the mask is protected until the processing of the unprotected substrate is completed. 19. The method of claim 1 in which forming a mask includes forming a mask having properties at different positions on the substrate so that directing the laser beam toward the substrate surface creates three-dimensional structures as the mask is removed at different rates at different positions. 20. The method of claim 1 in which forming a mask includes forming a mask having different thicknesses or different compositions in different areas, so that portions of the mask are removed by the laser after a period of micromachining, so that areas that become exposed after the processing has begun are processed less than areas that had no mask at the beginning of the processing. 21. A system for modifying a work piece, comprising:a charged particle beam focusing column;a vacuum chamber for containing the work piece to be modified;an ultra-fast pulsed laser system having a maximum fluence;a work piece to be modified positioned in the vacuum chamber, the work piece including a substrate composed of a substrate material and a mask composed of a mask material, the ablation threshold of the substrate material being lower than the ablation threshold of the mask material, the maximum fluence of the laser system being greater than the ablation threshold of the substrate material. 22. The system of claim 21 in which the ultra-fast pulsed laser is operating with a fluence between the ablation threshold of the substrate material and the ablation threshold of the mask material. 23. The system of claim 21 in which the mask comprises multiple layers of materials. 24. The system of claim 21 in which different regions of the mask have different thicknesses, materials, densities or other properties that influence the amount of optical transmission in different areas of the mask.