Separation process for silicon-on-insulator wafer fabrication

A process for manufacturing a silicon-on-insulator wafer from a silicon wafer assembly, said process comprising the steps of:

• providing a wafer assembly comprising a donor substrate having an insulator layer on a surface and a hydrogen-rich layer at a selected depth below said surface defining a single-crystalline silicon layer above said selected depth, and an acceptor substrate bonded to said surface for accepting said insulator layer and said single-crystalline silicon layer above said selected depth, and;
• applying to said wafer assembly an amount of energy directed to a flat surface of said wafer assembly from an energy source selected from the group consisting of ultrasound, infrared, hydrostatic pressure, hydrodynamiic pressure, mechanical, and a combination thereof, wherein said amount of energy is sufficient to transform said hydrogen-rich layer into a continuous hydrogen layer thereby releasing said single-crystalline silicon layer.