Indium nanoparticles were formed by laser etching an InP (100) wafer in a 10% chlorine-helium atmosphere maintained at similar to 5-8 x 10(-5) Torr. The wafer was irradiated by a homogenized ultraviolet beam with a series of 50-4500 pulses at a fluence of 230 mJ/cm(2). The surface was also irradiated using fluences from 50 to 340 mJ/cm(2) with 600 pulses. The irradiated surfaces were studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and Raman spectroscopy. Raman spectroscopy confirmed that the irradiated surface layer remains crystalline. According to EDS analysis, the surface particles are composed primarily of indium. SEM images show that the number of pulses and the pulse intensity can control the size distribution of the particles.