In this study, pulsed laser melting of 2219 aluminum alloy with different laser pulse periods was carried out to understand the impact of solidification modes and inter-pulse thermal cycles on soldification sturctures. The results show that the solidification transformed from single unconstrained mode to alternating constrained and unconstrained modes with the increase of pulse period. Fine dendrites with low Cu segregation were obtained under unconstrained solidification mode. While coarse dendrites with severe Cu segregation were formed under constrained solidification mode. The coarse and fine dendrites were alternately arranged under a long-period pulse. The round-shaped secondary precipitates can be obtained by adjusting the inter-pulse thermal cycles. This work not only contributes to the valuable understanding of solidification modes and inter-pulse thermal cycles of pulsed laser processing, but also provides a potential approach for site-specific control of microstructure and material properties for laser processed parts.