Centrifugal forming thin films and semiconductors and semiconductor devices

A method of forming a semiconductor device having a thin crystalline layer on a substrate from single crystal forming semiconductor material consisting essentially of a material which can be grown in single crystalline form onto a seed crystal at the melting point of the material, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing the single crystal forming semiconductor material in a molten state on a surface portion of the substrate, the substrate being of a conductive material other than the single crystal forming material;
• heating the crystal forming material to maintain its molten state and while the crystal forming material is in the molten state, rotating the substrate about an axis substantially parallel to the surface thereof at a speed sufficient to overcome the surface tension of the molten material so as to spread by centrifugal force the molten material into a thin, substantially uniform, molten layer of the single crystal forming material, thinner than that obtainable under ordinary gravimetric conditions;
• cooling the molten layer of the single crystal forming material while maintaining the speed of rotation of the substrate to solidify without epitaxial growth the entire thickness of the molten layer whereby a substantially monocrystalline thin semiconductive layer is formed on the substrate;
• doping the surface of the semiconductor layer subsequent to the cooling step;
• plating the doped semiconductor layer with a conductive grid;
• and
• wherein the substrate forms a conductor as a part of the semiconductor device.