1. A method of controlling a spike anneal process on a substrate, comprising: selecting one or more objectives for a spike anneal application directed to a substrate having a photolithography stack formed thereon, the photolithography stack including a resist layer, one or more layers underneath the resist layer selected from a bottom anti-reflective coating (BARC), a Si-containing anti-reflective coating (SiARC), an organic planarization layer (OPL), and an underlayer (UL), and optionally one or more layers above the resist layer selected from a top anti-reflective coating (TARC) and a sacrificial layer; selecting one or more absorbance layers for the spike anneal application from the photolithography stack; selecting a technique for modifying absorption of the selected one or more absorbance layers to have a standard absorption or no absorption at a first wavelength critical for a lithography process to be performed on the substrate and high absorption at one or more secondary wavelengths different than the first wavelength; selecting a process wavelength and a heating device operable at the process wavelength for performing the spike anneal process, wherein the process wavelength is selected from the one or more secondary wavelengths; providing the substrate with the modified one or more absorbance layers; performing a spike anneal process on the substrate with the modified one or more absorbance layers using the heating device at the process wavelength and using selected spike anneal process variables; and adjusting one or more of the spike anneal process variables, the selected technique for modifying absorption, the selected process wavelength, and/or the selected heating device in order to meet the one or more objectives of the spike anneal application.