A focused ion beam having a cross section of submicron diameter, a high ion current, and a narrow energy range is generated from a target comprised of particle source material by laser ablation. The method involves directing a laser beam having a cross section of critical diameter onto the target, producing a cloud of laser ablated particles having unique characteristics, and extracting and focusing a charged particle beam from the laser ablated cloud. The method is especially suited for producing focused ion beams for semiconductor device analysis and modification.