Method of obtaining a thin film of semiconductor material

A method of obtaining a thin film from a substrate of semiconductor material, the thin film including at least one element on a part of one face of the substrate, said element being of a different material from that of said semiconductor material, and conferring on the face a heterogeneous structure, said method comprising the steps in sequence of:

• implantation by bombardment of the face of said substrate and said element by ions to produce a continuous zone of microbubbles within the volume of the substrate, and adjusting said bombardment to account for said heterogeneous structure on said face, to demarcate a region of small thickness on the side of said face of the substrate containing said element, and a region of greater thickness formed by the rest of the substrate;
• the ions being chosen from among the ions of rare gases or of hydrogen gas and the temperature of the substrate being kept below the temperature at which the gas generated by the implanted ions is able to escape from the semiconductor by diffusion, and;
• thermally treating the substrate at a temperature that is sufficient to fracture the substrate to separate the two regions situated on each side of the zone of gaseous microbubbles, by a crystalline rearrangement effect in the substrate and the effect of microbubble pressure;
• whereby the region of small thickness constitutes a thin film.