Described is a laser unit for performing intrastromal ophthalmic laser surgerycomprising means for generating a pulsed laser beam, means for directing andfocusing the beam onto a series of focal spots in the stroma for Laser InducedOptical Breakdown (LIOB) of stromal tissue at each focal spot and means formovingthe focal spot in the stroma to create a pattern of radial cuts. The radialcuts can bemade coplanar with the visual axis and are located in the stroma within lessthanapproximately 0.9T from an anterior surface of the eye, and the anterior endof eachradial cut is located in the stroma more than eight microns in a posteriordirectionfrom Bowman's capsule and have a thickness of approximately two microns.