Method and system for laser hard marking

A laser-marking method of marking a semiconductor wafer to form a hard mark on the wafer, the method comprising:

• controlling a pulsed laser output so that a temporal characteristic of at least a portion of the pulsed laser output that affects depth of the hard mark to be formed with the laser output remains substantially constant with a variation in at least one of an output repetition rate and output energy, wherein the depth of the hard mark is affected by a variation in output energy while the diameter of the hard mark, which depends on beam size, remains substantially unchanged as the mark depth changes.

A laser-marking system for producing a hard mark on a semiconductor wafer, the system comprising:

• a pulsed laser subsystem that produces a pulsed laser output for marking at a location on the wafer, the pulsed laser subsystem being controlled so that output pulse width remains substantially constant with a variation in at least one of pulse repetition rate and output energy over a range;
• and
• a beam delivery system for delivering the pulsed laser output to the location on the wafer.