a dual layer resist configuration is employed for photopatterning high resolution conductive patterns on underlying polymeric or ceramic substrates , particularly substrates exhibiting surface roughness and non - planar design features such as channels , bosses and ridges . more particularly , a thin underlayer of ablatable photoabsorptive polymer is disposed on a metal coated substrate , after which a thicker layer of substantially transparent material is disposed over the polymer . a beam of laser energy , such as that produced by an ultraviolet excimer layer , is directed through the upper layer and is absorbed by the lower layer which is ablated and simultaneously removes the thick layer above it . this results in the ability to etch high resolution features on polymeric and other substrates , particularly copper coated polyetherimide circuit boards . the resist system is also applicable to vlsi wafers even though such wafers usually do not exhibit surface roughness on the scale generally considered herein . it is also equally applicable in various high density interconnect systems used for the direct connection of chip devices . a mask for patterning and a method for making it are also seen to be desirable because of the high laser energy densities generally desired for thorough ablation . an alternate method is also disclosed which employs two laser exposure steps with the first step being a masked operation on only an ablatable layer and with the second step being an unmasked operation on a dual layer material .