Patent ID: 8430056

Claim:
An apparatus for forming an epitaxial thin film comprising: a first frame portion with a body adapted to hold an assembly substrate, which assembly substrate includes a plurality of openings and defining a first pattern for an epitaxial layer; a manifold adapted to direct a liquid phase epitaxial material into said plurality of openings of said assembly substrate; a second base portion adapted to hold a seed substrate in fixed contact with said assembly substrate for at least a first duration in which said liquid phase epitaxial material is introduced into said plurality of openings; a temperature controller configured to control melting and cooling of said liquid phase epitaxial material such that said epitaxial layer can be formed as a patterned epitaxial structure within said frame portion above said assembly substrate; said temperature controller being further configured to cooperate with a movable assembly to separate said epitaxial layer from said seed substrate using a reheating process; wherein said assembly substrate and said seed substrate can be arranged contiguously within the apparatus such that epitaxial layer growth can be initiated at a surface region of said seed substrate situated at a bottom of said plurality of openings and can be controlled by said temperature controller such that said epitaxial layer can be formed within said first pattern as a patterned epitaxial structure on said seed substrate and within said assembly substrate.