Machining Si was a mainstay of the semiconductor industry for decades.While this has traditionally being done through wet chem. etching, other techniques are worth exploring.This is especially true for efforts in the pursuit of integrating photonics devices on a single chip to facilitate their production, for which a non-wet, noncontact, arbitrary-shape milling of Si would be best.The authors present the authors' latest work in the laser micromachining of Si.A kilohertz-repetition-rate diode-pumped Nd:YLF laser (in IR, green or UV modes) is focused on the surface of Si wafers in a Cl atm. for enhanced magnitude and control of the etching rate.In the Cl atm., much less debris is deposited on the surface around the cut, sub-damage threshold machining is achieved for a better control of the etching depth, and etching rates ranging from 20-300,000 μm3/s were measured.