Kinetics of splitting in the Smart-Cut/sup R/ process

The Smart-Cut/sup R/ process is based on proton implantation and wafer bonding (Bruel, Electron. Lett. vol. 31, no. 14, pp. 1201-2, 1995). Proton implantation enables delamination of a thin layer from a thick substrate to be achieved, whereas the wafer bonding technique enables different multilayer structures to be achieved by transferring the delaminated layer to a second substrate. One of the best known current applications of Smart Cut/sup R/ is the silicon on insulator structure. The Smart-Cut process is suitable for different kinds of applications and the principle of this process can be applied to various materials (Si, SiC, GaAs, etc.) (Bruel, 1995; Di Cioccio et al. ibid, vol. 32, no. 12, pp. 1144-5, 1996; Jalaguier et al. ibid, vol. 34, no. 4, pp. 408-9, 1998). In this paper, the physical mechanisms involved in the delamination process are discussed based on the study of activation energies necessary to obtain splitting.