Post-laser annealing dopant deactivation is minimized by performing certain silicide formation process steps prior to laser annealing. A base metal layer is deposited on the source-drain regions and the gate electrode, followed by deposition of an overlying compression cap layer, to prevent metal agglomeration at the silicon melting temperature. Thereafter, a rapid thermal process is performed to heat the substrate sufficiently to form metal silicide contacts at the top surfaces of the source-drain regions and of the gate electrode. The method further includes removing the remainder of the metal-containing layer and then depositing an optical absorber layer over the substrate prior to laser annealing near the silicon melting temperature.