Experimental results are presented on the ablation of SiC ceramics in air under irradiation with XeCl and ArF excimer laser beam. X-Ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis reveals the enrichment of the ablated areas in Si under laser beam energy densities of 1–3.5 J cm −2. At higher energy densities the ablated areas contain Si oxide. The non-stoichiometric ablation of SiC allows one to activate selectively the SiC surface for metal deposition from electroless plating solution. Both Ni and Cu deposits show excellent adherence to both SiC ceramics and single-crystal SiC.