The ability of a cw‐pumped Nd : YAG laser to anneal process‐induced slip damage in silicon is demonstrated via x‐ray topography as well as Sirtl etching. Severely dislocated regions of a silicon wafer were scanned by the laser at various power levels. X‐ray topographs of the regions indicate that 55–110 J/cm2can anneal even severely damaged material. Further, the depth of the anneal is estimated to be between 10 and 25 &mgr;.