Patent ID: 8603242

Claim:
A method for producing a semiconductor foil, said method comprising: dissolving a semiconductor source material in a molten metallic bath at temperature T 2 to form a molten solution, wherein a density of the solid semiconductor is lower than a density of the molten metallic bath by at least 0.5 g/cm 3 ; cooling at least a portion of the molten solution to a lower temperature T 1 , wherein T 1 is lower than T 2 by at least 100° C., whereby the semiconductor precipitates out of the at least a portion of the molten solution and grows as a floating semiconductor foil over an interfacial area of a top surface of the at least a portion of the molten solution, wherein the interfacial area is larger than an area of a cross-section of the semiconductor foil, the cross-section being taken in a plane parallel to a thickness of the semiconductor foil and perpendicular to the interfacial area, along a width of the floating semiconductor foil; and separating at least a portion of the floating semiconductor foil from the interfacial area when the thickness of the at least a portion of the floating semiconductor foil is in a range from about 10 micrometers to about 200 micrometers, said thickness is measured along a direction perpendicular to the interfacial area.