A method of producing particles includes providing a substrate structure that comprises a solid substrate; forming a target structure on said substrate structure, said target structure comprising a radiation-reactive material; forming a spatially patterned beam of radiation using a patterned mask; exposing at least a portion of the target structure to the spatially patterned beam of radiation to which the radiation-reactive material reacts while leaving other portions of the target structure unexposed to the radiation; removing substantially all of one of the exposed or the unexposed patterned portions of the target structure to provide a plurality of non-contiguous structures that include at least a portion of the radiation-reactive material; and separating the plurality of non-contiguous structures comprising the radiation-reactive material from the substrate structure into a fluid material. Each non-contiguous structure of the radiation-reactive material provides at least a portion of a separate particle after the separation.