Patent ID: 7534701

Claim:
A method of preparing a semiconductor wafer with a strained layer having an elevated critical thickness, comprising: providing a first wafer having a strained layer of a semiconductor material of a first thickness grown in a first strained state on a matching layer, wherein: the semiconductor material has a first lattice parameter corresponding to a relaxed state and has a first critical thickness corresponding to the first strained state, the first thickness is below the first critical thickness, and the matching layer has a matching lattice parameter that is sufficiently different than the first lattice parameter to retain the strained layer in the first strained state; transferring the strained layer to a receiving substrate selected to provide the transferred strained layer with a second critical thickness that is greater than the first critical thickness; and growing additional strained semiconductor material on the transferred strained layer to provide the transferred strained layer with a second thickness that is greater than the first critical thickness and less than the second critical thickness.