Residual strain in single point diamond machined crystalline silicon and germanium has been measured with high spatial resolution (≈ 2 μm) using Raman microprobe spectroscopy. Raman spectroscopy is a direct, non-destructive technique which provides a spatial resolution down to the excitation wavelength and which may be applied to a wide range of non-conducting materials. Raman scattering was used to measure local strain at various points across single point plunge and feed cuts in crystalline silicon and germanium. Spectra were obtained using various excitation wavelengths (514.5 and 488.0 nm), which, due to their differing penetration lengths in the various materials, can provide depth profiles of the residual stress down to approximately 1 μm. In single point plunge cuts little evidence of surface damage was seen and the residual stresses are compressive. Using a 514.5 nm excitation wavelength, we measure a compressive stress of 250 MPa (2.5 kbar) near the outer edge of a single point plunge cut in silicon. At this wavelength, the penetration depth of the laser is 1.0 × 10 −4 cm. This compressive stress was observed to increase to 600 MPa (6.0 kbar) at a depth of 0.6 × 10 −4 cm which was measured using a 488.0 nm excitation wavelength. In single point feed cuts, regions of heavy fracturing were observed as well as regions of little visible damage. In damaged areas tensile stresses of 200–300 MPa (2.0–3.0 kbar) were measured in silicon while in germanium the tensile stress in such regions is 50–100 MPa (0.5–1.0 kbar). In undamaged areas the stresses are compressive with measured values of 50 and 30 MPa (0.5 and 0.3 kbar) for silicon and germanium respectively.