Patent ID: 8026158

Claim:
A method for processing structures on or within a semiconductor substrate, the method comprising: providing a series of laser pulses to a first deflector configured to selectively deflect the laser pulses within a processing window; scanning the processing window over the semiconductor substrate, a plurality of laterally spaced rows of structures simultaneously passing through the processing window as the processing window is scanned; and selectively deflecting the series of laser pulses among the plurality of laterally spaced rows within the processing window, wherein, as the processing window is scanned over the semiconductor substrate in a scan direction, a first laser pulse is deflected to a first row of the laterally spaced rows and a second laser pulse is deflected to a second row of the laterally spaced rows, the second laser pulse being subsequent to the first laser pulse in the series of laser pulses, wherein, with respect to the scan direction, the second laser pulse is deflected in a reverse direction and laterally, and wherein the second laser pulse is deflected to the second row within 100 μs after the first laser pulse is deflected to the first row.