A new method is reported to produce atomically sharp protrusions by laser‐induced reactive quenching of blunt tungsten tips. The field emitter tips made of 1 mm diam tungsten wire were processed in a benzene bath by pulsed Ruby laser (λ=693.4 nm, pulse width=30 ns). Subsequent examination of such tips in field ion and field electron emission microscopes shows very sharp atomic protrusions formed on the tip apex. The glancing angle x‐ray diffraction studies of thin tungsten foils laser irradiated under identical conditions reveal the formation of tungsten carbide on the surface. The atomic protrusions on the tip, thought to arise due to carbon atoms, were found to be strongly bound to the surface as judged by the field evaporation voltage required to strip them off the surface. The experimental results are explained on the basis of a laser‐induced reactive quenching process at the tungsten/benzene interface.