Patent ID: 7585792

Claim:
A method of fabricating a crystalline wafer, comprising: associating an interface layer with a support substrate; associating a first layer in a strained state with the interface layer and support substrate; associating a cap layer with the first layer; melting the interface layer sufficiently to substantially uncouple the first layer from the support substrate to relax the first layer from the strained state to a relaxed state in which the first layer is more relaxed than in the strained state, wherein the cap layer protects and provides mechanical support for the first layer when the interface layer is melted; and solidifying the interface layer with the first layer in the relaxed state to obtain a first crystalline wafer that includes the support substrate, the interface layer and the first layer in the relaxed state, wherein the first layer comprises silicon germanium, and the interface layer comprises a higher concentration of germanium than the silicon germanium in the first layer.