System to Reduce Induced Subsurface Damage in Separation of Semiconductor Workpieces

A system for processing a semiconductor workpiece, comprising:

• one or more laser sources configured to provide a laser emission, the one or more laser sources having emission parameters configured to induce a nonthermal lattice modification, the laser emission being configured to induce a treatment region in the semiconductor workpiece;
• one or more energy sources configured to induce a damage region at the treatment region with an energy exposure, the one or more energy sources having different emission parameters relative to the one or more laser sources;
• and
• at least one translation stage operable to impart relative motion between the damage region in the semiconductor workpiece and the one or more energy sources.

A method, comprising:

• providing a semiconductor workpiece;
• inducing a treatment region in the semiconductor workpiece with a first laser emission having a first laser pulse length;
• and
• inducing a damage region at the treatment region with a second laser emission having a second laser pulse length that is different from the first laser pulse length.