In laser direct writing technology, the pattern is usually written in a photoresist. In this work, we use the chalcogenide phase change thin films as the laser direct writing materials, and patterned structures with different shapes and sizes were directly written with different laser wavelengths. Compared with traditional photoresist materials, the patterned structures can be directly formed in the chalcogenide phase change thin films without developing and etching procedures, and also can be directly written with different laser wavelengths. By tuning the laser parameters precisely, patterned structures with different sizes and shapes could be obtained as well. The analysis indicates that the formation mechanism of the patterned structure is mainly due to the volume expansion caused by material vaporization and the interior of the patterned structure is hollow with some solid leavings, and the chalcogenide phase change thin films are very good candidate materials for patterned structure formation. Crown Copyright (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.