Ohmic contacts andp‐njunctions inp‐ andn‐type silicon are generated with the aid of a laser. Doping was achieved by covering the surface of the silicon with a layer of dopant and melting locally with pulses from either a Nd : YAG or a CO2laser. Typical residual resistances of the Ohmic contacts are of the order of 0.1–1 &OHgr; cm2and backward/forward resistance ratios of 104were measured for the diodes. A model which takes account of segregation during the cooling process is discussed and shown to agree with the resulting distribution of dopant. Highly doped material was found in a surface layer of a thickness less than 0.5 &mgr;m. This thickness was independent of laser parameters.