Apparatuses and methods for irradiating a substrate to avoid substrate edge damage

An apparatus for processing a substrate having an upper surface that includes a central region, a peripheral region, and an edge adjacent to the peripheral region and perpendicular to the upper surface, said apparatus comprising:

• a radiation source adapted to emit radiation;
• an optical system adapted to receive the emitted radiation and create therefrom a beam that forms an image that is incident the upper surface of the substrate at an incident angle greater than 45°;
• a stage adapted to support the substrate;
• and
• a controller operably coupled to the radiation source and the stage, wherein the controller is programmed to provide relative movement between the stage and the beam to scan the image across the substrate surface in manner effective to process the substrate over at least the central region at a substantially uniform temperature without overheating the edge to a temperature that damages the edge.