HK40029347B - Optimised laser cutting - Google Patents

Description

Optimized laser cutting

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a method of cutting a wafer by irradiating the wafer with laser energy, and a laser cutting apparatus for cutting a wafer.

Background

Singulation and dicing are well known processes in the semiconductor industry where a dicing machine is used to process a workpiece or substrate (such as a semiconductor wafer) which may include, for example, but not limited to, silicon, or a metal and/or ceramic wafer. Throughout this specification, the term "wafer" is used to encompass all of these products. During singulation (also referred to as dicing, severing, cleaving, for example), the wafer is cut completely through to singulate the wafer into individual dies. In a scribing (also referred to as grooving, scoring, gouging or trenching, for example) process, the channels or trenches are cut into wafers. Next, other processes may be applied, for example, full singulation by using a physical saw along the cutting channel. Alternatively or additionally, a drilling process may be used to form the holes in the wafer. Throughout this specification, the term "cutting" will be used to encompass dividing, scribing and drilling.

However, the general trend of miniaturization of semiconductor technology is to reduce the thickness of wafers, and as the thickness of wafers decreases, it has been shown that laser technology becomes more advantageous in terms of singulation than using mechanical saws. The use of high power lasers for such material processing has significant advantages over mechanically corresponding processes such as drilling and sawing, and laser processing has good versatility in dealing with small and delicate workpieces.

Laser removal of semiconductor material occurs due to the rapid increase in temperature of the smaller area where the laser beam is focused, causing localized material melting, rapid boiling, vaporization and ablation. Laser singulation faces challenges including a delicate balance between process yield and workpiece (die) quality. The quality and yield of the process is determined by laser parameters such as fluence, pulse width, repetition rate, polarization and polarization distribution, wavefront shape and its phase modification and wavelength. Nanosecond laser pulses are typically used, i.e. laser pulses with a pulse width in the order of nanoseconds, which makes the balance between quality and yield acceptable.

Existing laser cutting or dicing systems for semiconductor, metal and/or ceramic wafers employ pulsed lasers with fixed pulse durations or pulse durations that can vary within a limited range. The intervals between laser pulses may be equal. Alternatively, a burst (burst) may be employed. The duration between pulses within a burst is shorter than the time between subsequent bursts.

For example, in WO 1997/029509 a1, a cutting method using a multi-beam laser has been proposed in which linear clusters of focused laser beams (which may be arranged in a linear array of laser spots) are used to ablate the substrate material along a scribe line, thereby irradiating the substrate with a score along the ablation line. The use of multiple beams instead of a (more intense) single beam in this way may provide various advantages, in particular a reduction in the defect density generated during the cutting process.

One of the quantitative assessments of laser processing quality is die or wafer fracture strength, which determines the tensile stress at which the wafer fractures. Uniaxial flexural testing is commonly used to determine the breaking strength of brittle materials and has been used to measure wafer strength. These tests include the three-point bending test and the four-point bending test commonly used to measure breaking strength.

It is believed that the fracture strength of the wafer separated by the laser depends on the degree of laser-induced defects (such as microcracks and chipping) that occur after the laser dicing process is performed in the wafer. These defects are generated by high stresses at the interface between the bulk semiconductor material and the localized lased region. The high stresses are due to high temperature gradients between the body and the processed region caused by acoustic shock waves that occur during processing and during chemical transformation of the die sidewall. A region of semiconductor material containing such defects is commonly referred to as a "heat affected zone. The fracture strengths of the front and back sides of the wafer are typically different and, in fact, there are techniques, processes and wafer layouts that can make the back and upper side strengths significantly different.

Recent advances in ultrashort pulse ("USP") lasers have enabled more precise wafer processing. Pulse widths of less than 1-10 picoseconds depend on the particular material being processed, since the temporal pulse width of those lasers is shorter than the typical time for electron-phonon relaxation in solids, resulting in heat transfer of photoexcited electrons to the crystal lattice. While USP lasers can improve the die strength of materials, the productivity of wafer processing systems using such USP lasers is reduced for several reasons, including, for example, the smaller thermal diffusion induced interaction volumes produced using such systems. In addition, large variations in the cutting or dicing depth are often observed.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention aims to combine the advantages of different laser pulse durations in a single optimized system.

According to the invention, this object is achieved by applying laser beam pulses of different pulse widths throughout the irradiation sequence.

In this way, ultrashort pulses and nanosecond pulses or burst envelopes are used to illuminate the wafer to be processed. These pulses may be generated by a single or multiple laser sources. The nanosecond burst envelope is composed of a plurality of ultrashort pulses spaced in a nanosecond domain, and such bursts can simulate the behavior of nanosecond pulses to a certain extent. The advantages of using such bursts are: it can be generated in a simple manner by the same laser source as the ultrashort pulse.

One embodiment may be to create an alternating pattern of ultrashort pulses and nanosecond pulses or nanosecond burst envelopes.

Another embodiment may be to first irradiate the wafer with nanosecond pulses or nanosecond burst envelopes and then post-process with ultrashort pulses.

Both embodiments have the same working principle: ultrashort pulses should eliminate some or all of the damage produced by nanosecond pulses or nanosecond burst envelopes. The damage may be manifested as swarf, voids, microcracks, surface roughness, and/or waviness or phase change material.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of cutting a wafer by irradiating the wafer with laser energy, comprising the steps of:

i) providing a laser source adapted to emit a sequence of consecutive laser beam pulses,

ii) emitting laser beam pulses from the laser source,

iii) directing the emitted laser beam pulses to irradiate the wafer to be cut; and

iv) moving the wafer relative to the irradiating laser beam pulses so as to cut the wafer along a cutting line,

wherein the laser beam pulse sequence comprises:

a first set of laser beam pulses and a second set of laser beam pulses,

the first set of laser beam pulses comprises:

at least one laser beam pulse having a pulse width in the range of 0.1 to 300 nanoseconds, or

At least one burst of laser beam pulses, each pulse within the burst having a pulse width of 100 picoseconds or less, and

the second set of laser beam pulses includes at least one laser beam pulse having a pulse width of 100 picoseconds or less.

According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a laser cutting apparatus for carrying out the above method.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a laser dicing apparatus for dicing a wafer, comprising:

a laser source adapted to emit a continuous sequence of laser beam pulses, the sequence comprising a first set of laser beam pulses comprising at least one laser beam pulse having a pulse width in the range of 0.1 to 300 nanoseconds, or at least one burst of laser beam pulses, each pulse within the burst having a pulse width of 100 picoseconds or less, and a second set of laser beam pulses comprising at least one laser beam pulse having a pulse width of 100 picoseconds or less;

a laser beam directing assembly for directing the laser beam pulses from the laser source to irradiate a wafer to be cut; and

a drive assembly for relatively moving the wafer and the irradiating laser beam pulses.

Other specific aspects and features of the present invention are set forth in the appended claims.

Drawings

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings (not to scale), in which.

Fig. 1 schematically shows a timing diagram of an illumination scheme according to an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2 schematically shows a timing diagram of an illumination scheme according to a second embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 3 schematically shows a timing diagram of an illumination scheme according to a third embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 4 schematically shows a timing diagram of an illumination scheme according to a fourth embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 5 schematically shows a laser cutting device for carrying out the method of the invention.

Reference numerals:

1-nanosecond pulse

2-picosecond/femtosecond pulse

3-nanosecond pulse

4-picosecond/femtosecond pulse

5-pulse burst

6-picosecond/femtosecond pulse

7-picosecond/femtosecond pulse

8-picosecond/femtosecond pulse

9-picosecond/femtosecond pulse

10-laser cutting device

11-wafer

13-chuck

14-driver

15-pulse laser source

16-laser beam

17. 20, 24, 25, 28-mirror

18-attenuator/light valve

19-electric half-wave plate

21-Beam expander

22-diffractive optical element

23. 27, 29-lens

26-spatial filter.

Detailed Description

The present invention utilizes illumination schemes in which a sequence of successive laser beam pulses is emitted by a laser source. All these illumination schemes comprise a sequence comprising at least two sets of pulses or pulse "sub-sequences". In the first set of pulses, the laser beam pulse or pulses emitted are aimed at achieving a good material removal rate, while in the second set of pulses at least one ultrashort pulse (e.g. a pulse with a pulse width in the picosecond or femtosecond range) is emitted, which is aimed at improving the quality of the irradiated wafer (including its mechanical strength). In these different illumination schemes, the sequence may be repeated cyclically. In different embodiments of the invention, the first group may variously comprise:

a. a single nanosecond pulse having a duration (pulse width) in the range of 1ns to 300 ns;

b. a plurality of nanosecond pulses, each nanosecond pulse having a duration (pulse width) in a range of 1ns to 300 ns. The number of pulses may be sufficient to cut/scribe/notch the entire wafer;

c. a single burst of ultrashort pulses (e.g., pulses in the picosecond or femtosecond range of pulse widths ("picosecond or femtosecond pulses")), each pulse within the burst having a pulse width of 100 picoseconds or less; or

d. A plurality of bursts of ultrashort pulses, each pulse within the burst having a pulse width of 100 picoseconds or less. The number of bursts may be sufficient to cut/scribe/slot an entire wafer.

In different embodiments of the invention, the second group may variously include:

a. a single ultrashort pulse having a pulse width of 100 picoseconds or less; or

b. A plurality of ultrashort pulses having a pulse width of 100 picoseconds or less. The number of pulses may be sufficient to post-process the entire wafer. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the plurality of pulses preferably do not form a burst, as the inter-pulse spacing is preferably in the range of 10ns to 1 ms.

The advantages of using ultra-short bursts of pulses rather than nanosecond pulses are: ultrashort pulse bursts are easier to produce by standard ultrashort pulse lasers than nanosecond pulses.

Figures 1 to 4 schematically show various illumination schemes according to embodiments of the present invention, wherein the figures show a single pulse sequence of the schemes.

These schemes are somewhat interchangeable if the timing parameters vary over a wide range. All schemes are repeated so that the displayed sequence can be repeated to produce an overall scheme. After the pulse sequence is completed, the sequence may be restarted from the beginning after an additional time delay. These schemes may be considered for illustration: an ultrafast photodiode on the wafer surface will measure what.

Fig. 1 schematically shows a timing diagram of an illumination scheme according to an embodiment of the invention. The irradiation protocol includes a laser beam pulse train having a first set of pulses with pulse widths in the nanosecond range and a second set of pulses with pulse widths in the picosecond or femtosecond range. In this scheme, the pulse duration is switched after each pulse such that the sequence includes alternating pulses from the first and second groups.

As shown in fig. 1:

“E _p "denotes the energy of an individual laser pulse, which corresponds to the intensity of the laser beam during the pulse;

"t" represents time;

T ₁ duration T of each pulse 1 ₁ In the range of 1ns to 300 ns;

T ₂ inter-pulse interval T between each nanosecond pulse 1 and the immediately succeeding picosecond/femtosecond pulse 2 ₂ In the range of 100ps to 1 ms; and is

T ₃ Duration T of each picosecond/femtosecond pulse 2 ₃ In the range of 10fs to 100 ps.

Energy E of nanosecond pulse 1 ₁ Energy E which may be different from picosecond/femtosecond pulse 2 ₂ . In the sequence shown in fig. 1, the energy of picosecond/femtosecond pulse 2 is greater than that of nanosecond pulse 1. A typical sequence repetition rate (i.e. the repetition frequency of the sequence shown in fig. 1) is in the range of 1kHz to 100MHz, and the sequence will be interrupted (gated) during indexing.

Fig. 2 schematically shows a timing diagram of an illumination scheme according to a second embodiment of the invention. Here, within each sequence, a first group comprising a plurality of (possibly a larger number of) pulses 3 having pulse widths in the nanosecond range may be transmitted before switching to a second group comprising a plurality of pulses 4 having pulse widths in the picosecond/femtosecond range.

As shown in fig. 2:

“E _p "denotes the energy of an individual laser pulse, which corresponds to the intensity of the laser beam during the pulse;

"t" represents time;

T ₁ duration T of each pulse 3 ₁ In the range of 1ns to 300 ns;

T ₂ inter-pulse interval T between successive nanosecond pulses 3 ₂ In the range of 1 mus to 1 ms;

T ₃ representing the inter-pulse interval between the last nanosecond pulse 3 and the immediately succeeding picosecond/femtosecond pulse 4 in the sequence. T is a unit of ₃ The value of (d) is determined by the pulse duration switching delay;

T ₄ duration T of each picosecond/femtosecond pulse 4 ₄ In the range of 10fs to 100 ps;

T ₅ inter-pulse intervals T between successive picosecond/femtosecond pulses 4 ₅ In the range of 10ns to 1 ms;

n, the number N of nanosecond pulses 3 is within the range of 1-N < ∞;

m, the number M of picosecond/femtosecond pulses 4 is in the range of 1-M < infinity.

The sequence in fig. 2 may be as long as the processing time of the entire wafer (e.g., from about one minute to more than one hour). For example, the single sequence shown may be used to cut a wafer using nanosecond pulses, and then post-process using ultra-short pulses. Thus, when a single groove or scribe line is processed on a wafer, there is no need to repeat this sequence.

Energy E of nanosecond pulse 3 ₁ Energy E which may be different from picosecond/femtosecond pulse 4 ₂ . In the sequence shown in fig. 2, the energy of the picosecond/femtosecond pulse 4 is lower than that of the nanosecond pulse 3.

A possible application of this scheme is to cut a street or an entire wafer using nanosecond pulses 3 and then post-process it using picosecond/femtosecond pulses 4.

Fig. 3 schematically shows a timing diagram of an illumination scheme according to a third embodiment of the invention. This illumination scheme uses a pulse sequence comprising a first set comprising a burst 5 consisting of a plurality (N) of picoseconds/femtosecond pulses 6 and a second set comprising higher energy picoseconds/femtosecond pulses 7 at the end of the sequence.

As shown in fig. 3:

“E _p "denotes the energy of an individual laser pulse, which corresponds to the intensity of the laser beam during the pulse;

"t" represents time;

T ₁ duration T of each pulse 6 ₁ In the range of 10fs to 100 ps;

T ₂ inter-pulse intervals T between successive picosecond/femtosecond pulses 6 within a burst 5 ₂ In the range of 100ps to 100 ns;

T ₃ represents the inter-pulse interval between the last picosecond/femtosecond pulse 6 and the subsequent picosecond/femtosecond pulse 7 of burst 5 and is at 1In the range of 00ps to 100 ns;

n, the number N of picosecond/femtosecond pulses 6 in the burst 5 is within the range that N is more than or equal to 2 and less than or equal to 100; and is

Energy E of picosecond/femtosecond pulse 7 ₂ >>Energy E of each picosecond/femtosecond pulse 6 in burst 5 ₁ 。

The burst 5 of picosecond/femtosecond pulses 6 acts like a single nanosecond pulse, and therefore the scheme of figure 3 is conceptually similar to that shown in figure 1. However, the scheme of fig. 3 may be easier to produce in practice than the scheme of fig. 1, since the laser source may only emit picosecond/femtosecond pulses, rather than switching between picosecond/femtosecond pulses and nanosecond pulses.

A typical sequence repetition rate, i.e. the repetition frequency of the sequence shown in fig. 3, is in the range of 1kHz to 100MHz, and the sequence will be interrupted (gated) during indexing.

Fig. 4 schematically shows a timing diagram of an illumination scheme according to a fourth embodiment of the invention. This illumination scheme uses a pulse sequence comprising a first set comprising a plurality of bursts 5, each burst 5 consisting of a plurality (N) of picosecond/femtosecond pulses 8, and a second set comprising a plurality of picosecond/femtosecond pulses 9 at the end of the sequence.

As shown in fig. 4:

“E _p "denotes the energy of an individual laser pulse, which corresponds to the intensity of the laser beam during the pulse;

"t" represents time;

T ₁ duration T of each pulse 8 ₁ In the range of 10fs to 100 ps;

T ₂ inter-pulse intervals T between successive picosecond/femtosecond pulses 8 within a burst 5 ₂ In the range of 100ps to 100 ns;

T ₃ inter-burst interval T between consecutive bursts 5 ₃ In the range of 0.1 to 100 nanoseconds;

T ₄ the last picosecond/femtosecond pulse 8 and following it representing the last burst 5Picoseconds/femtosecond pulse 9 interval. Due to T ₄ Possibly involving cutting/dicing/grooving of the entire wafer, thus T ₄ Possibly over a large range of values, but possibly at least 100 ps;

T ₅ duration T of each pulse 9 ₅ In the range of 10fs to 100 ps;

T ₆ inter-pulse intervals T between successive picosecond/femtosecond pulses 9 ₆ In the range of 10ns to 1 ms;

n, the number N of picosecond/femtosecond pulses 6 in each burst 5 is within the range that N is more than or equal to 2 and less than or equal to 100;

energy E of picosecond/femtosecond pulse 9 in the present embodiment ₂ Energy E substantially equal to each picosecond/femtosecond pulse 8 ₁ . In other related embodiments, the energy may be different.

Each burst 5 of picosecond/femtosecond pulses 8 behaves like a single nanosecond pulse, and therefore the scheme of fig. 4 is conceptually similar to the scheme shown in fig. 2. However, the scheme of fig. 4 may be easier to produce in practice than the scheme of fig. 2, since the laser source may only emit picosecond/femtosecond pulses, rather than switching between picosecond/femtosecond pulses and nanosecond pulses.

The sequence in fig. 4 may be as long as the processing time of the entire wafer (e.g., from about one minute to more than one hour). For example, the single sequence shown may be used to dice wafers using nanosecond bursts of envelopes, and then post-process using ultra-short pulses. Thus, the sequence need not be repeated when a single groove or scribe line is machined in the wafer.

Fig. 5 schematically shows a laser cutting device 10 suitable for performing the method of the present invention.

The semiconductor material, in this embodiment a semiconductor wafer 11, is supported on a chuck 13. In use, chuck 13, and hence wafer 11, is driven by driver 14 such that there is relative movement between wafer 11 and the illuminating laser (see below). The pulsed laser source 15 is adapted to output a polarized laser beam according to a timing arrangement, such as the one described above16 pulses. The laser source 15 is operative for outputting laser beam pulses, i.e. a pulsed laser beam 16. Typically, the laser source 15 comprises a modulator (not shown), for example between its oscillator and amplifier, capable of adjusting the intensity of the emitted laser pulses and thus controlling E described with reference to fig. 1 to 4 above ₁ And E ₂ The value of (c). In other embodiments (not shown), an external modulator may be used to achieve this intensity control. A pulsed laser beam 16 is directed by the assembly onto the wafer 11. In more detail, mirror 17 directs beam 16 onto attenuator/light valve 18 to control the beam. A selectively actuated optical polarizing member (in this embodiment in the form of an electrically driven half-wave plate 19) is provided which is selectively movable to interact with the pulsed laser beam 16. Preferably, the half-wave plate 19 is mounted for rotation about the laser beam axis. Thus, by selectively rotating the half-wave plate 19, the polarization state of the laser beam 16 can be controlled in a switched manner. The selective movement is achieved by control operation of the motor by a control means (not shown) such as a computer or processor. Another mirror 20 directs the pulsed laser beam 16 onto a beam expander 21 to produce a widened beam. A diffractive optical element ("DOE") 22 diffracts or divides the broadened beam into a predetermined pattern of spatially separated output sub-beams. The lenses 23 and 27 together form a relay telescope. The other mirrors 24, 25 direct the sub-beams to a spatial filter 26, the spatial filter 26 being used to form the desired predetermined beam pattern. The spatial filter 26 is located at the intermediate focus produced by the lens 23. The mirror 28 directs the sub-beams onto a focusing lens 29. This focuses the laser light onto the wafer 11 on the support chuck 13 in a predetermined shot pattern. By moving the wafer relative to the irradiating pulsed laser beam 16, the laser beam pulses irradiate and thus cut the wafer 11 along a cutting line (not shown).

By seeding the amplifier with multiple pulses from a seed laser (oscillator), ultra-short bursts of pulses can be generated. Another option is to only partially dump the pulse from the regenerative amplifier so that another pulse can be generated after one extra cavity round trip time. These are standard options for many commercially available lasers. For example, nanosecond pulsing from the same laser may be achieved by switching between multiple seed lasers or running a regenerative amplifier in Q-switched mode. In another embodiment (not shown), the laser source may include two separate lasers for providing nanosecond pulses and ultra-short pulses, respectively.

Depending on the semiconductor material to be cut and the type of cutting operation (e.g., grooving, parting, etc.), it may be advantageous to vary the laser beam pulse characteristics between successive pulses or bursts within a sequence or scheme. For example, by appropriate control of the laser source 15, successive bursts in a scheme may have different pulse repetition frequencies. Alternatively or additionally, the energy transmitted in successive bursts or pulses may be different, such as by controlling a modulator internal or external to the laser source, so that the pulse energy of a pulse within a first burst is different from the pulse energy of a pulse within a second or subsequent burst.

Alternatively or additionally, the polarization of the emitted laser beam pulses may be controlled, for example, by selectively turning the half-wave plate 19 so that different laser beam pulses within a scheme or sequence have different laser beam polarization states. For example, the laser beam pulses of a burst may have a linear polarization, e.g., parallel or perpendicular to the cutting line, while the subsequent laser beam pulses may have a linear polarization, wherein the polarization direction is orthogonal to the polarization of the laser beam pulses of the burst. One or more laser beam pulses of the sequence or scheme may also be circularly or elliptically polarized, for example, by selectively applying a quarter-wave plate (not shown) in the path of the laser beam 16.

As noted above, DOE 22 may be used to diffract beam 16 into a predetermined pattern of output laser beams that, together with spatial filter 26, form a desired predetermined pattern of illuminated spots on the semiconductor material. It may be advantageous to create different irradiation spot patterns for different pulses or bursts within a plan or sequence, in other words, the laser beam pulses of successive pulses or bursts may be divided such that the irradiation spot pattern associated with a first burst or pulse in a plan is different from the irradiation spot pattern associated with the next burst or pulse in the plan. This effect can be achieved in a number of ways, for example by selecting a different DOE for the second burst or pulse, or by adjusting the spatial filter 26 between bursts or pulses. In a refinement of this technique, the illumination points generated during successive bursts or pulses, respectively, may be spatially separated to illuminate different cut lines in the semiconductor material. In this way, a first burst or pulse may be used to create a trench line parallel to but spaced apart from the main cut line, while a subsequent burst or pulse may be used to create the main cut line.

The above embodiments are exemplary only, and other possibilities and alternatives within the scope of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art. For example, while in the particular embodiment described above the semiconductor material is moved while the laser optics are held stationary, relative movement occurs between the semiconductor material and the irradiating laser beam pulses, in alternative embodiments the relative movement may be provided by holding the semiconductor material stationary and moving the laser and/or laser optics, or alternatively the semiconductor material and laser and/or laser optics may be moved simultaneously.

In the above-described embodiment, the individual laser beam pulses are generated by using a pulsed laser. However, in theory, the individual pulses can be created using an external beam chopping mechanism, for example, using a rapidly rotating wheel with multiple blocking elements placed in sequence in the path of the laser beam.

The relative energies of the first and second sets may be varied as desired for a particular application.

In other embodiments (not shown), each sequence may include a third and other set of laser beam pulses in addition to the first and second sets of laser beam pulses to suit a particular application.

Claims (16)

1. A method of dicing or scribing a wafer by irradiating the wafer with laser energy, comprising the steps of:

i) providing a laser source adapted to emit a sequence of consecutive laser beam pulses,

ii) emitting laser beam pulses from the laser source,

iii) directing the emitted laser beam pulses to irradiate the wafer to be divided or diced; and

iv) the wafer is divided or diced by moving the wafer relative to the irradiating laser beam pulses so as to divide or scribe the wafer along a line,

wherein the laser beam pulse sequence comprises:

a first set of laser beam pulses and a second set of laser beam pulses,

the first set of laser beam pulses comprises:

at least one laser beam pulse having a pulse width in the range of 0.1 to 300 nanoseconds, or

At least one burst of laser beam pulses, each pulse within the burst having a pulse width of 100 picoseconds or less, and

the second set of laser beam pulses comprises at least one laser beam pulse having a pulse width of 100 picoseconds or less;

wherein at least one laser beam pulse of the first set of laser beam pulses is used to form at least one scribe or scribe line in the wafer, and at least one laser beam pulse of the second set of laser beam pulses is used for post-processing after scribing or scribing of the formed at least one scribe or scribe line, the post-processing being to remove damage generated during the scribing or scribing.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first set of laser beam pulses comprises laser beam pulses having respective pulse widths in a range of 0.1 to 300 nanoseconds.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first set of laser beam pulses comprises at least one burst of laser beam pulses, each pulse within the burst having a pulse width of 100 picoseconds or less.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the first set of laser beam pulses comprises a plurality of bursts of laser beam pulses having an inter-burst spacing in a range of 0.1 to 100 nanoseconds.

5. The method of claim 1, comprising the step of cyclically repeating the sequence of laser beam pulses.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the first set of laser beam pulses of each sequence consists of a single laser beam pulse or a single burst of laser beam pulses, wherein the single laser beam pulse of the first set of laser beam pulses has a pulse width in the range of 0.1 to 300 nanoseconds, and each pulse within the single burst of laser beam pulses has a pulse width of 100 picoseconds or less; and each sequence of second set of laser beam pulses consists of a single laser beam pulse having a pulse width of 100 picoseconds or less such that the wafer is alternately irradiated with the single laser beam pulse or the single laser beam burst of the first set of laser beam pulses and the single laser beam pulse of the second set of laser beam pulses.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein each sequence of first set of laser beam pulses comprises the single laser beam pulse, an interval between the single laser beam pulse of the first set of laser beam pulses and the single laser beam pulse of the second set of laser beam pulses being between 100 picoseconds and 1 millisecond.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein each sequence comprises at least one burst of laser beam pulses of the first set of laser beam pulses followed by at least one laser beam pulse of the second set of laser beam pulses, wherein an interval between the at least one burst of laser beam pulses of the first set of laser beam pulses and the at least one laser beam pulse of the second set of laser beam pulses is at least 100 picoseconds.

9. The method of claim 5, wherein each sequence comprises at least two consecutive laser beam pulses of the first set of laser beam pulses or at least two laser beam bursts of laser beam pulses followed by the laser beam pulses of the second set of laser beam pulses.

10. The method of claim 5, wherein each sequence comprises at least one laser beam pulse or at least one burst of laser beam pulses of the first set of laser beam pulses followed by at least two consecutive laser beam pulses of the second set of laser beam pulses.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein an energy of each laser beam pulse of the second set of laser beam pulses is different than an energy of each laser beam pulse of the first set of laser beam pulses.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein an energy of each laser beam pulse of the second set of laser beam pulses is greater than an energy of each laser beam pulse of the first set of laser beam pulses.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein an energy of each laser beam pulse of the second set of laser beam pulses is less than an energy of each laser beam pulse of the first set of laser beam pulses.

14. The method of claim 1, comprising the steps of: controlling a polarization of the emitted laser beam pulses such that the laser beam pulses of the second set of laser beam pulses have a different laser beam polarization state than the laser beam pulses of the first set of laser beam pulses.

15. A laser device for performing the method of claim 1.

16. A laser apparatus for dicing or scribing a wafer of semiconductor material, comprising:

a laser source adapted to emit a continuous sequence of laser beam pulses, the sequence comprising a first set of laser beam pulses and a second set of laser beam pulses arranged within the sequence such that the second set of laser beam pulses follows the first set of laser beam pulses, the first set of laser beam pulses comprising at least one laser beam pulse having a pulse width in the range of 0.1 to 300 nanoseconds, or at least one burst of laser beam pulses, each pulse within the burst having a pulse width of 100 picoseconds or less, and the second set of laser beam pulses comprising at least one laser beam pulse having a pulse width of 100 picoseconds or less;

a laser beam directing assembly for directing the laser beam pulses from the laser source to irradiate the wafer of semiconductor material to be singulated or diced; and

a drive assembly for relatively moving the semiconductor material wafer and the irradiating laser beam pulses;

wherein the first set of laser beam pulses is used to form at least one scribe or scribe line in the wafer of semiconductor material and the second set of laser beam pulses is used to post-process the formed at least one scribe or scribe line, the post-process being to remove damage generated during the scribe or scribe process.