Patent ID: 7670966

Claim:
Method of processing a substrate containing at least one semiconductor of the Si X A Y type, x being a strictly positive number, y being a positive number and A designating a chemical element or a compound of several chemical elements of the fourteenth column of the periodic table of elements, and comprising at least four separate types of light elements, the method comprising at least the following steps: carrying out a first anneal of the substrate at a temperature T 1 , corresponding to a thermal activation temperature for a first one of the four types of light elements, carrying out, after the first anneal, a second anneal of the substrate at a temperature T 2 , corresponding to a thermal activation temperature for a second one of the four types of light elements, carrying out, after the second anneal, a third anneal of the substrate at a temperature T 3 , corresponding to a thermal activation temperature for a third one of the four types of light elements, carrying out, after the third anneal, a fourth anneal of the substrate at a temperature T 4 , corresponding to a thermal activation temperature for a fourth one of the four types of light elements, each anneal comprising a holding at the temperature T 1 , T 2 , T 3 or T 4 for a predetermined time period, and the temperatures T 1 , T 2 , T 3 and T 4 being such that T 1 >T 2 >T 3 >T 4 .