Smart cut

Smart cut is a technological process that enables the transfer of very fine layers of crystalline silicon material onto a mechanical support.

It was invented by Michel Bruel of CEA-Leti, and was protected by US patent 5374564.

[1] The application of this technological procedure is mainly in the production of silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer substrates.

The role of SOI is to electronically insulate a fine layer of monocrystalline silicon from the rest of the silicon wafer; an ultra-thin silicon film is transferred to a mechanical support, thereby introducing an intermediate, insulating layer.

The sequence of illustrations pictorially describes the process involved in fabricating SOI wafers using the smart cut technology.