Melting and rapid solidification has been induced in amorphous Ge films by irradiation with nano- and picosecond laser pulses. The degree of structural relaxation of the rapidly solidified amorphous material has been investigated both by determining the minimum fluence required for surface melting and by means of Raman spectroscopy. The results evidence that the degree of relaxation of the rapidly solidified material is controlled by several parameters such as the duration and fluence of the laser pulse, and the thermal conductivity of the substrate, all of them affecting the supercooling prior to solidification. It is demonstrated that both relaxation and derelaxation can be induced if the above mentioned parameters are properly selected. The degree of relaxation is observed to decrease as the supercooling increases. ©1997 American Institute of Physics.