A technique to produce carbon by pyrolysis of a positive photoresist on a silicon substrate using a laser beam (laser pyrolysis) is described. The characteristics of the two-dimensional carbon microstructures produced are determined by the motion and power of the laser beam as it traverses the surface of the photoresist. This approach has advantages over conventional photolithography, which was used to pattern photoresists that were then converted to carbon by thermal pyrolysis. Examples of Raman spectra and carbon structures obtained by laser pyrolysis are presented. (C) 2002 The Electrochemical Society.