Patent ID: 6916717

Claim:
A method for growing a monocrystalline oxide layer on a monocrystalline substrate comprising: positioning a monocrystalline substrate having a surface within a reaction chamber; removing any oxide that may be present on the surface of the substrate; heating the substrate to a first temperature; introducing oxygen to the reaction chamber to establish a first partial pressure of to oxygen in the reaction chamber, where the chosen combination of said first temperature and said first partial pressure is such that the substrate will not substantially react with the oxygen; introducing at least one reactant to the reaction chamber and reacting the at least one reactant and the oxygen to form a first layer of oxide; stopping the introduction of said at least one reactant to the reaction chamber; reducing the partial pressure of oxygen in the reaction chamber to a second partial pressure of oxygen less than the first partial pressure of oxygen; and heating the substrate to a second temperature greater than the first temperature, where the second temperature is high enough to improve the crystalline quality of the first layer, and the second temperature is not so high as to cause the substrate to react with the first layer.