The localized laser-induced deposition of an insulator for silicon-based microelectronics seems to be an unsolved problem. In order to understand the limiting mechanism in the deposition, the formation kinetics of silicon, silicon oxide and silicon nitride using various laser wavelengths and gas mixtures have been studied Depending upon wavelength and laser-induced temperature, various chemical reactions are involved. In the presence of ammonia, the growth rate of silicon nitride dots was found to be lower than the corresponding silicon deposition rate, indicating that deposition starts with silane decomposition followed by nitridation of silicon. By evaluating the influence of the wavelengths, the existence of a photolytic aided reaction is detected in the presence of 2.4 eV photons. In the presence of oxygen molecules and under most experimental conditions, no deposition occurs. The formation of volatile intermediate compounds can explain the difficulty of locally depositing silicon dioxide.