A method for photodisrupting a preselected subsurface volume of corneal tissue to alter a cornea's refractive properties is disclosed. Specifically, at least one stromal volume having a substantially conical shaped surface is photodisrupted. For this purpose, a laser device having a laser source, laser scanner and one or more optical elements is typically used. In one embodiment, a plurality of stromal volumes, with each stromal volume having a substantially conical shaped surface, is sequentially photodisrupted to form a contiguous stromal cavity. In a particular implementation, each conical shaped surface defines a cone axis that is aligned to be co-linear with a reference axis that passes through the anterior surface of the eye and may be aligned orthogonally to the anterior surface of the eye.