A method for recycling a substrate holder adapted to receive a substrate for at least one deposition step of a layer of a material on the substrate also leading to the depositing of a layer of a material on the substrate holder, the method including implanting ion species through a receiving surface of the substrate holder so as to form at least one buried weakened plane delimiting a thin film underneath the receiving surface of the substrate holder, exfoliating the thin film from the substrate holder so as to break up the thin film, and removing a stack including at least one layer of a material deposited on the thin film resulting from the at least one deposition step of the layer of a material on the substrate.

There is provided a method for manufacturing a group-III nitride substrate, including: (a) preparing a substrate which is made of a group III-nitride crystal and which has a high oxygen concentration domain where an oxygen concentration is higher than that of a matrix of the crystal; (b) irradiating the substrate with laser beam aiming at the high oxygen concentration domain, forming a through-hole penetrating the substrate in a thickness direction, and removing at least a part of the high oxygen concentration domain from the substrate; and (c) embedding at least a part of an inside of the through-hole by growing the group-III nitride crystal in the through-hole.

Embodiments relate to reclaiming a donor substrate that has previously supplied a thin film of material in a layer transfer process. Certain embodiments selectively perform annular grinding upon edge regions only of the donor substrate. This serves to remove residual material at the edge regions, with grind damage not impacting subsequent transfer of material from central regions of the donor substrate. Some embodiments accomplish reclamation by applying energy to the donor substrate after cleaving has occurred. The energy is calculated to interact with a cleave region (e.g., resulting from ion implantation) underlying the residual material, thereby allowing separation of that residual material at the cleave region. This reclamation approach can remove residual material in donor substrate central regions (e.g., resulting from a void), without requiring invasive grinding and post-grinding processing to remove grind damage. Embodiments may apply energy in the form of a laser beam absorbed at the cleave region.

A donor substrate in a layer transfer process, is stabilized by attaching a backing substrate. The backing substrate allows thermal and mechanical stabilization during high-power implant processes. Upon cleaving the donor substrate to release a thin layer of material to a target, the backing substrate prevents uncontrolled release of internal stress leading to buckling/fracture of the donor substrate. The internal stress may accumulate in the donor substrate due to processes such as cleave region formation, bonding to the target, and/or the cleaving process itself, with uncontrolled bow and warp potentially precluding reclamation/reuse of the donor substrate in subsequent layer transfer processes. In certain embodiments the backing substrate may exhibit a Coefficient of Thermal Expansion (CTE) substantially matching, or complementary to, that of the donor substrate. In some embodiments the backing structure may include a feature such as a lip.

Method of producing bonded wafer including thin film on base wafer, including: implanting at least one gas ion selected from hydrogen ion and rare gas ion into bond wafer from surface of bond wafer to form layer of implanted ion; bonding surface from which ion is implanted into bond wafer and surface of base wafer directly or through insulator film; and then performing heat treatment to separate part of bond wafer along layer of implanted ion, wherein before bond wafer and base wafer are bonded, thickness of bond wafer and base wafer is measured, and combination of bond wafer and base wafer is selected such that difference in thickness between the wafers is less than 5 m, and selected bond and base wafers are bonded. This method can inhibit variation in thickness in marble pattern that occurs in thin film and produce bonded wafer including thin film with uniform thickness.

Disclosed are a substrate regeneration method and a regenerated substrate. The substrate regeneration method comprises preparing a substrate having a surface separated from an epitaxial layer. The separated surface includes a convex portion and a concave portion, and the convex portion is comparatively flatter than the concave portion. A crystalline restoration layer is grown on the separated surface. The crystalline restoration layer is grown on the convex portion. Furthermore, a surface roughness improvement layer is grown on the crystalline restoration layer, thereby providing a continuous surface. Accordingly, it is possible to provide a regenerated substrate, which has a flat surface, without using physical polishing or chemical etching technology.

pa The method of processing a semiconductor wafer includes forming one or more epitaxial layers over its first main surface. It also involves forming one or more porous layers within the semiconductor wafer or within the epitaxial layers. Together, the semiconductor wafer, the epitaxial layer(s), and the porous layer(s) form a substrate. Next, doped regions of a semiconductor device are formed within the epitaxial layer(s). After forming these doped regions, a non-porous part of the semiconductor wafer is separated from the rest of the substrate along the porous layer(s).

A method for manufacturing a composite structure comprises: a) providing an initial substrate made of monocrystalline silicon carbide, b) epitaxially growing a monocrystalline silicon carbide donor layer on the initial substrate to form a donor substrate, c) implanting ions into the donor layer to form a buried brittle plane defining the donor layer, d) depositing, using liquid injection-chemical vapor deposition at a temperature below 1000 C., a carrier layer on the donor layer, the carrier layer comprising an at least partially amorphous SiC matrix, e) separating the donor substrate along the brittle plane to form an intermediate composite structure comprising the donor layer on the carrier layer f) heat treating the intermediate composite structure at a temperature of between 1000 C. and 1800 C. to crystallize the carrier layer and form the polycrystalline carrier substrate, and g) applying mechanical and/or chemical treatment(s) of the composite structure.

A method is used to prepare the remainder of a donor substrate, from which a layer has been removed by delamination in a plane weakened by ion implantation. The remainder comprises, on a main face, an annular step corresponding to a non-removed part of the donor substrate. The method comprises the deposition of a smoothing oxide on the main face of the remainder in order to fill the inner space defined by the annular step and to cover at least part of the annular step, as well as heat treatment for densification of the smoothing oxide. A substrate is produced by the method, and the substrate may be used in subsequent processes.

There is provided a method for manufacturing a SiC device wafer comprising the steps: a) slicing and polishing a SiC boule to thicker substrates compared to the usual thickness in the prior art, b) creating a device wafer on the substrate, c) removing the device wafer from the remaining substrate, d) adding SiC to the remaining substrate so that the original thickness of the substrate is essentially restored, and repeating steps b)-d). The removal of the device wafer can be made for instance by laser slicing. Advantages include that the SiC material loss is significantly decreased and the boule material used for device wafers is considerably increased, the substrates become more stable especially during high temperature processes, the warp and bow is reduced, the risk of breakage is decreased.