Experimental results are presented on ablation of metals (W, Cu, brass and bronze) in a liquid environment (e.g., ethanol or water) by irradiation with either a pulsed copper vapor laser (0.51 mu m) or a pulsed Nd:YAG laser (1.06 mu m). The target material is ejected into surrounding liquid in the form of nanoparticles. In a certain range of laser parameters (fluence and number of laser shots) the surface of the solid target is composed of microcones having a regular structure. The distance between neighboring micro-cones in the structure depends on the laser spot size. The structures allow the observation of up-conversion of the laser frequency due to generation of the second harmonics in the eye retina. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.