The development of the miniaturized product, such as microelectronic component marks a new era in processing technologies. A wide range of miniaturized products is being fabricated by high-yield, cost-effective and high-resolution rapid prototyping (RP) techniques in which the product design and development cycle has been accelerated in the absence of tooling or apparatus. In this paper, a new, laser-based thin film deposition within a fluid environment for growing prototypes is described. The effects of the laser-processing conditions and fluid properties on the material deposition rate as well as microstructure features are presented. Also, the mechanism involved in the new process is discussed. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.