An in situ observation of the formation of a laser-irradiation-induced nanodot array on a Si surface was performed using a pulsed-laser-equipped high-voltage electron microscope (laser-HVEM). Under multiple nanosecond (ns) pulsed laser irradiation shots, atomic clusters were first formed and distributed on the surface in order to grow them epitaxially into protruded dots with diameters of ten nanometers or less. This is followed by their diffusion induced by successive laser shots to cannibalize and merge them into a ripple line with aligned, larger dots. We conclude that the present subwavelength two-dimensionally-ordered nanodot array is formed by self-organization under pulsed laser irradiation. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3512888]