Patent ID: 8062564

Claim:
A method for fabricating a silicon wafer, which method comprises: depositing at least one intermediate layer on either of a substrate and/or a superstrate by chemical vapor deposition, wherein the intermediate layer is deposited as a glass comprising at least one base material having distributed therein extrinsic atoms or molecules which differ from those of the base material; assembling the substrate and the superstrate so that the as-deposited intermediate layer is interposed between the substrate and the superstrate to form a silicon wafer structure; and applying a heat treatment to the resulting structure in a temperature range that causes the intermediate layer to become spongy and plastically deformable with the as-deposited extrinsic atoms or molecules in the base material causing an irreversible formation of microbubbles or microcavities in the intermediate layer resulting from the heat treatment in a configuration and amount which weakens the intermediate layer.