Patent ID: 8309431

Claim:
A method of self-supported transfer of a thin film, the method comprising: preparing a source substrate; implanting at least a first species of ions or gas at a first dose in the source substrate at a specified depth with respect to a face of the source substrate, wherein the first species generates defects; applying a stiffener in intimate contact with the source substrate; applying a heat treatment to the source substrate, at a specified temperature for a specified time, so as to irreversibly create, substantially at the given depth, a buried weakened zone, without initiating a thermal splitting of the thin film, wherein the buried weakened zone includes crystalline defects comprising about 20% to 35% of a total surface area of the source surface; and applying a pulse of energy to only a portion of the buried weakened zone in the source substrate so as to provoke a self-supported splitting of the thin film delimited between the face of the source substrate and the buried weakened zone, with respect to a remainder of the source substrate in the absence of any additional splitting force.