Patent ID: 8288195

Claim:
A method for fabrication of a three-dimensional thin-film solar cell semiconductor substrate from a semiconductor template, the method comprising: anisotropically etching a semiconductor template to form three-dimensional surface features comprising a top surfaces substantially aligned along a (100) crystallographic plane of said semiconductor template and a plurality of inverted pyramidal cavities defined by sidewalls substantially aligned along a (111) crystallographic plane of said semiconductor template; implanting a dose of relatively high energy light-mass species at a uniform depth and parallel to said top surfaces and said sidewalls defining said plurality of inverted pyramidal cavities of said template according to an ion implantation process; annealing said semiconductor template to convert said dose of relatively high energy light-mass species to a mechanically-weak-thin layer; and cleaving said semiconductor template at said mechanically-weak-thin layer to release a three-dimensional thin-film semiconductor substrate from said semiconductor template.