A rapid nondestructive (optical) technique, which can be used to monitor directly the chemical polishing/etching time required for removal of lapping (or sawing) damage in semiconductor wafers, is described. This technique utilizes dependence of the amplitude of surface photovoltage signal on the residual surface stress to determine the ’’end‐point’’ of chemical polishing/etching. It is shown that this technique is very sensitive and well suited for large scale polishing facilities.