With the aim of improving surface strength on copper with the electrical conductivity of the integral bulk retained, laser surface modification on copper was carried out using powder preplacement. The microstructures, hardness, wear resistance and electrical conductivity of the sample was investigated. It was shown that the modified layer of sample had crack-free, fine and homogeneous microstructures. Compared with pure copper, the average hardness of the sample was enhanced by a factor of six (about HV0.1650), and the wear mass loss was reduced by 4/5, but the electrical conductivity of the integral bulk was only slightly decreased. The improvement of hardness and wear resistance could be attributed to the precipitation hardening of boride and carbide, grain refinement and solid solution strengthening in the layer. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.