{"schema_version":"1.0","canonical_url":"https://patentable.app/patents/US-9853181","patent":{"patent_number":"US-9853181","title":"Method for preparing a recrystallised silicon substrate with large crystallites","assignee":null,"inventors":[],"filing_date":"2014-09-24T00:00:00.000Z","publication_date":"2017-12-26T00:00:00.000Z","cpc_codes":["H01L","H01L","H01L"],"num_claims":20,"abstract":"A method for preparing silicon substrate having average crystallite size greater than or equal to 20 μm, including at least the steps of: (i) providing polycrystalline silicon substrate of which average grain size is less than or equal to 10 μm; (ii) subjecting substrate to overall homogeneous plastic deformation, at temperature of at least 1000° C.; (iii) subjecting substrate to localized plastic deformation in plurality of areas of substrate, called external stress areas, spacing between two consecutive areas being at least 20 μm, local deformation of substrate being strictly greater than overall deformation carried out in step (ii); step (iii) being able to be carried out subsequent to or simultaneous to step (ii); and (iv) subjecting substrate obtained in step (iii) to recrystallization heat treatment in solid phase, at temperature strictly greater than temperature used in step (ii), in order to obtain desired substrate."},"analysis":{"summary":"The Method for Preparing a Recrystallised Silicon Substrate with Large Crystallites (US-9853181) is a groundbreaking patent that introduces a novel process for manufacturing high-quality silicon substrates with significantly enlarged crystallite sizes. The core innovation lies in its ability to produce silicon with average crystallite dimensions of 20 μm or greater, a substantial improvement over conventional polycrystalline silicon, which typically features grain sizes below 10 μm.\n\nThe primary problem this invention solves is the performance degradation caused by grain boundaries in polycrystalline silicon. These boundaries act as defects, impeding electron flow and reducing the efficiency and speed of electronic devices. By minimizing these boundaries through larger crystallites, the patent aims to unlock superior electrical properties.\n\nThe key technical approach involves a precise, multi-stage thermomechanical treatment. It begins with providing a standard polycrystalline silicon substrate. This is followed by two distinct phases of plastic deformation: first, an overall homogeneous deformation at temperatures above 1000°C, and second, a localized plastic deformation applied to specific 'external stress areas' spaced at least 20 μm apart, where the local deformation is strictly greater than the overall deformation. Finally, the substrate undergoes a solid-phase recrystallization heat treatment at a temperature strictly greater than that used during the initial deformation, which drives the growth of the desired large crystallites.\n\nFrom a business perspective, this technology offers immense value, particularly for the semiconductor, power electronics, and solar energy industries. Devices built on these superior substrates can achieve higher speeds, lower power consumption, and improved efficiency, leading to competitive advantages for manufacturers. It represents a pathway to next-generation microprocessors, more efficient power converters, and higher-performing solar cells.\n\nThe market opportunity is substantial, as the demand for high-performance, energy-efficient electronic components continues to grow. This innovation provides a scalable and cost-effective method for producing advanced silicon materials, potentially disrupting existing substrate manufacturing processes and enabling new product categories previously limited by material quality.","layman_explanation":"## Unlocking Silicon's Full Potential: A Layman's Guide to the Method for Preparing a Recrystallised Silicon Substrate with Large Crystallites\n\nIn the world of technology, silicon is king. It's the foundational material for nearly every electronic device we use, from smartphones to supercomputers and solar panels. Yet, despite its ubiquity, silicon has inherent limitations that engineers and scientists are constantly striving to overcome. A recent patent, the \"Method for Preparing a Recrystallised Silicon Substrate with Large Crystallites,\" offers a compelling solution to one of these long-standing challenges, promising significant advancements for various industries.\n\n### What Problem Does This Solve?\n\nImagine you're trying to build a high-speed highway. If your highway is made up of many small, uneven sections patched together, cars will constantly hit bumps, slow down, and waste fuel. This is analogous to how electricity (or 'charge carriers') moves through typical polycrystalline silicon substrates. These substrates are composed of numerous tiny, randomly oriented crystal grains, separated by 'grain boundaries.' These boundaries are essentially microscopic imperfections or 'speed bumps' at an atomic level. They scatter electrons, reduce their flow efficiency, and contribute to energy loss and heat generation. For businesses, this translates to less efficient electronic devices, slower processing speeds, and higher operating costs. Existing solutions often involve using extremely pure, single-crystal silicon, which is expensive and complex to produce, or accepting the performance compromises of standard polycrystalline material.\n\n### How Does It Work?\n\nThis innovation doesn't try to make single-crystal silicon; instead, it dramatically improves the quality of more cost-effective polycrystalline silicon. Think of it like taking those many small, bumpy road sections and, through a clever process, fusing them into much larger, smoother, and more uniform stretches of highway. The method involves four key conceptual steps:\n\n1.  **Starting Material:** It begins with a standard, relatively inexpensive polycrystalline silicon substrate – our 'bumpy road' with small grains, typically less than 10 micrometers (a micrometer is tiny, about 1/100th the width of a human hair).\n2.  **Initial 'Massage':** The entire silicon piece is gently 'massaged' or deformed uniformly under very high heat (over 1000°C). This makes the material more pliable and prepares it for the next stage, like warming up clay before molding.\n3.  **Targeted 'Pressure Points':** Here's the clever part. Specific, tiny areas on the silicon are then pressed much harder than the initial massage. These 'pressure points' are strategically spaced at least 20 micrometers apart. These highly stressed areas become energy hotspots, like seeds ready to sprout.\n4.  **'Super-Bake' for Growth:** Finally, the silicon is put into an even hotter 'oven' (a recrystallization heat treatment). Because of the energy hotspots created by the targeted pressure, the tiny crystal grains around these points start to 'melt' and then 'regrow' into much larger, perfect crystals. These new, large crystals consume the smaller ones and the stressed regions, resulting in a silicon substrate where the average crystal size is now 20 micrometers or more – our smooth, high-speed highway sections.\n\nThis precise control over mechanical stress and heat allows the material to essentially self-organize into a much higher-quality structure.\n\n### Why Does This Matter?\n\nThe ability to create silicon substrates with significantly larger crystallites has profound implications across multiple industries:\n\n*   **Market Impact & Opportunities:** For semiconductor manufacturers, this means faster microprocessors, more efficient memory chips, and powerful logic circuits. For the burgeoning power electronics sector, it translates to components that lose less energy as heat, leading to more efficient electric vehicles, power grids, and industrial machinery. In solar energy, higher-quality silicon means photovoltaic cells can convert more sunlight into electricity, boosting energy output and reducing the cost per watt. This opens up opportunities for companies to develop next-generation products that outperform competitors.\n*   **Competitive Advantages:** Companies adopting this technology can differentiate their products based on superior performance, energy efficiency, and potentially longer lifespan. This can command premium pricing or enable market leadership in performance-critical niches. It offers a strategic advantage in a highly competitive global market.\n*   **Potential ROI and Business Value:** Improved material quality directly impacts manufacturing yields (fewer defective chips), reduces energy consumption in end-products, and enables new performance benchmarks. These factors lead to lower production costs, higher customer satisfaction, and increased revenue potential. For investors, it signals a significant technological leap that could drive growth in companies leveraging this innovation.\n\n### What's Next?\n\nThis innovation lays the groundwork for a new era of silicon-based devices. Future applications could include ultra-high-frequency communication components, advanced sensors for medical and industrial uses, and even more robust and miniaturized electronics. We can expect to see this technology gradually integrated into high-end product lines first, with broader adoption as manufacturing processes mature. Investment in companies exploring or implementing this approach could yield substantial returns, as the market for high-performance, energy-efficient materials continues its exponential growth trajectory. This patent is a blueprint for the future of silicon.","technical_analysis":"The Method for Preparing a Recrystallised Silicon Substrate with Large Crystallites (US-9853181) represents a significant advancement in material engineering for semiconductor applications. The patent outlines a sophisticated thermomechanical process designed to overcome the inherent limitations of polycrystalline silicon, specifically the presence of numerous grain boundaries that degrade electrical performance. The core technical objective is to achieve an average crystallite size of 20 μm or greater, a substantial improvement over typical polycrystalline silicon where grain sizes are often ≤ 10 μm.\n\n**Technical Architecture and Implementation Details:**\nThe invention's architecture is a sequential four-step process, each meticulously controlled to influence the microstructure of the silicon substrate:\n\n1.  **Providing Polycrystalline Silicon Substrate (Initial State):** The starting material is a conventional polycrystalline silicon substrate, characterized by an average grain size of 10 μm or less. This material contains a high density of grain boundaries, which are regions of atomic disorder and high internal energy.\n\n2.  **Overall Homogeneous Plastic Deformation:** The substrate is subjected to a uniform plastic deformation across its entire body. This step is performed at a high temperature, explicitly stated as at least 1000° C. At these elevated temperatures, silicon exhibits increased ductility, allowing for the introduction of a relatively homogeneous distribution of dislocations and stored strain energy throughout the material. This pre-deformation homogenizes the internal stress state, preparing the material for subsequent localized manipulation.\n\n3.  **Localized Plastic Deformation (External Stress Areas):** This is the critical and differentiating step. The substrate then undergoes localized plastic deformation in a plurality of discrete, pre-defined 'external stress areas.' The spacing between two consecutive external stress areas is a crucial parameter, specified to be at least 20 μm. Importantly, the local deformation within these areas is strictly greater than the overall homogeneous deformation applied in step (ii). This differential straining creates regions of significantly higher stored energy and dislocation density at the localized stress points. These high-energy regions act as preferential nucleation sites for new, larger grains during recrystallization, effectively guiding the grain growth process. This step can be carried out either subsequent to or simultaneous with step (ii).\n\n4.  **Recrystallization Heat Treatment in Solid Phase:** The final step involves annealing the deformed substrate. This heat treatment is performed in the solid phase at a temperature strictly greater than the temperature used during the overall homogeneous plastic deformation (step ii). The elevated temperature provides the necessary thermal energy for atomic diffusion and grain boundary migration. The high stored energy in the localized deformation areas, coupled with the higher annealing temperature, drives abnormal grain growth. New, large, low-energy crystallites nucleate in the highly strained regions and grow by consuming the surrounding smaller, higher-energy grains and the strained matrix. This results in the desired microstructure of an average crystallite size of 20 μm or greater.\n\n**Algorithm Specifics and Performance Characteristics:**\nThe 'algorithm' here is a material processing algorithm focused on controlling stored energy and kinetics. The key parameters are:\n*   **Temperature Control:** Precise temperature management during both deformation stages (≥1000°C) and the recrystallization heat treatment (strictly > deformation temp) is vital for achieving plastic flow without cracking and for driving effective grain growth.\n*   **Strain Engineering:** The dual-stage plastic deformation (homogeneous then localized) is central. The localized strain (strictly greater than homogeneous strain) at specific points acts as a 'seed' for large grain nucleation, a controlled energy gradient.\n*   **Spatial Control:** The minimum 20 μm spacing of external stress areas is critical. This ensures that the growing large crystallites have sufficient space to expand without prematurely impinging on each other, promoting larger average sizes.\n\n**Integration Patterns and Code-level Implications:**\nWhile not directly a software or 'code-level' patent, the principles here translate to advanced manufacturing control systems. Implementing this method would require:\n*   **Precision Mechanical Systems:** For applying homogeneous and highly localized deformation (e.g., roller systems, micro-indenters, patterned stamps).\n*   **Advanced Thermal Processing Units:** Furnaces capable of precise, multi-stage temperature profiles and rapid thermal annealing.\n*   **Metrology and Feedback Systems:** *In-situ* or *ex-situ* monitoring of grain size, strain distribution (e.g., using EBSD, X-ray diffraction), and temperature to ensure process control and optimization.\n\n**Performance Characteristics:** The expected outcome is a silicon substrate with significantly reduced grain boundary density. This translates to enhanced electron mobility, lower leakage currents, higher carrier lifetimes, and improved overall electrical and thermal conductivity. For device fabrication, this means potentially higher device speeds, lower power consumption, improved signal-to-noise ratios, and greater reliability, particularly for high-power or high-frequency applications. The ability to achieve larger crystallites through this engineered approach could lead to more robust and efficient semiconductor devices, pushing the limits of silicon-based technology.","business_analysis":"The Method for Preparing a Recrystallised Silicon Substrate with Large Crystallites (US-9853181) represents a significant innovation with substantial commercial implications, particularly for industries reliant on high-performance silicon materials. This patent addresses a fundamental limitation in polycrystalline silicon, offering a pathway to superior material quality that can drive significant business value.\n\n**Market Opportunity Size:**\nThe market for silicon substrates is colossal, underpinning the entire electronics and solar energy sectors. The global semiconductor market alone is projected to exceed $1 trillion by the end of the decade, with silicon wafers being a foundational component. Within this, the demand for higher-performance, lower-defect substrates is ever-increasing. While single-crystal silicon dominates high-end applications, the cost-effectiveness of polycrystalline silicon makes up a vast segment, especially in solar cells and certain power electronics. This innovation targets a sweet spot: improving polycrystalline silicon's performance to bridge the gap with single-crystal material for specific applications, thus expanding its utility and market share. The addressable market includes manufacturers of microprocessors, memory chips, power management ICs, LEDs, and especially photovoltaic cells, where efficiency gains directly translate to economic benefits.\n\n**Competitive Advantages:**\nThis patented method offers several distinct competitive advantages:\n1.  **Performance Leap:** By achieving average crystallite sizes of 20 μm or more, the technology significantly reduces grain boundary defects, leading to superior electrical conductivity, higher carrier mobility, and reduced leakage currents. This performance boost can differentiate end-products in terms of speed, efficiency, and reliability.\n2.  **Cost-Effectiveness (Relative):** While the process involves advanced thermomechanical steps, it starts with more cost-effective polycrystalline silicon. This could offer a more economical path to high-performance substrates compared to solely relying on expensive single-crystal growth for all applications, potentially enabling new product tiers.\n3.  **Scalability:** The described process leverages established principles of plastic deformation and heat treatment, suggesting it can be integrated into existing manufacturing lines with appropriate tooling, making it potentially scalable for mass production.\n4.  **IP Protection:** As a patented method, it offers a strong barrier to entry for competitors, providing a significant lead time and licensing opportunities.\n\n**Revenue Potential:**\nRevenue streams could be generated through:\n*   **Direct Material Sales:** Manufacturing and selling recrystallized silicon substrates to device fabricators.\n*   **Technology Licensing:** Licensing the patented method to existing silicon wafer manufacturers, semiconductor foundries, or solar cell producers.\n*   **Joint Ventures/Partnerships:** Collaborating with major industry players to integrate the technology into their product lines.\n*   **Enabling New Products:** The improved material quality could enable entirely new classes of devices or significantly enhance existing ones, opening up new market segments.\n\n**Business Models:**\nPotential business models include:\n*   **Material Supplier:** Operating as a specialized supplier of advanced silicon substrates.\n*   **IP Licensor:** Focusing on R&D and licensing the technology globally.\n*   **Integrated Device Manufacturer (IDM):** Using the technology internally to produce higher-performing chips or solar cells for a competitive edge.\n\n**Strategic Positioning:**\nThis innovation strategically positions its adopters at the forefront of material science in the semiconductor space. Companies utilizing this method can brand their products as 'Powered by Advanced Silicon Microstructure,' emphasizing superior performance and efficiency. It allows for differentiation in crowded markets by offering a tangible, quantifiable improvement at the foundational material level. For renewable energy companies, it offers a path to higher efficiency solar panels, which is a key differentiator in a cost-sensitive market. For electronics, it's about enabling the next generation of computing and power management.\n\n**ROI Projections:**\nThe ROI for investing in or adopting this technology could be substantial. For device manufacturers, even a modest increase in device efficiency or speed can lead to significant market share gains and premium pricing. For solar companies, a few percentage points increase in conversion efficiency can translate into billions in revenue over the lifespan of power plants. Reduced defect rates also lead to higher manufacturing yields, directly impacting profitability. Early adopters would likely see a faster return through market leadership and the ability to set new industry benchmarks. The long-term value lies in its potential to extend the performance roadmap of silicon-based technologies, ensuring continued relevance and growth.","faqs":[{"answer":"The Method for Preparing a Recrystallised Silicon Substrate with Large Crystallites is a patented process (US-9853181) that describes a novel way to produce silicon substrates with significantly larger and more uniform crystal grains, known as crystallites. Conventional polycrystalline silicon, which is widely used in electronics and solar cells, consists of many small, randomly oriented crystallites separated by 'grain boundaries.' These boundaries act as defects that impede the flow of electricity, reducing device performance and efficiency.\n\nThis innovation addresses that fundamental limitation by engineering the silicon's microstructure. It aims to create substrates where the average crystallite size is 20 micrometers or greater, a substantial improvement over typical polycrystalline silicon where grains are often less than 10 micrometers. By doing so, it drastically reduces the number of performance-degrading grain boundaries.\n\nThe method employs a precise sequence of mechanical deformation and heat treatment steps. This allows for a controlled transformation of the silicon's internal structure, leading to a superior material quality. This technology is poised to enhance a wide range of silicon-based devices.","question":"What is Method for Preparing a Recrystallised Silicon Substrate with Large Crystallites?"},{"answer":"The Method for Preparing a Recrystallised Silicon Substrate with Large Crystallites works through a sophisticated four-step thermomechanical process designed to promote abnormal grain growth in polycrystalline silicon.\n\nFirst, it starts with a standard polycrystalline silicon substrate, which typically has small grains (average size ≤ 10 μm). Second, this substrate undergoes an overall homogeneous plastic deformation at a high temperature (at least 1000° C). This step uniformly introduces strain energy throughout the material, preparing it for further processing.\n\nThird, and critically, localized plastic deformation is applied to specific 'external stress areas' on the substrate. The local deformation in these areas is strictly greater than the overall deformation, and these areas are strategically spaced at least 20 μm apart. These highly strained regions act as energetic hotspots, serving as preferential nucleation sites for new, larger crystals.\n\nFinally, the substrate is subjected to a solid-phase recrystallization heat treatment at a temperature strictly greater than that used during the initial deformation. This elevated temperature, combined with the carefully engineered strain fields, drives the growth of large, low-energy crystallites from the strained regions. These growing crystals consume the surrounding smaller, higher-energy grains, resulting in a silicon substrate with an average crystallite size of 20 μm or more. This precise control over strain and temperature is what enables the Method for Preparing a Recrystallised Silicon Substrate with Large Crystallites to achieve its superior microstructure.","question":"How does Method for Preparing a Recrystallised Silicon Substrate with Large Crystallites work?"},{"answer":"The Method for Preparing a Recrystallised Silicon Substrate with Large Crystallites solves the critical problem of performance degradation caused by grain boundaries in conventional polycrystalline silicon. Polycrystalline silicon, while cost-effective, is composed of many small crystal grains, and the interfaces between these grains (grain boundaries) are atomic defects.\n\nThese grain boundaries act as barriers to electron flow, scattering charge carriers, increasing electrical resistance, and promoting unwanted leakage currents. This leads to several issues in electronic devices, including reduced operating speed, lower energy efficiency, increased heat generation, and diminished reliability. For solar cells, these defects reduce the efficiency with which sunlight is converted into electricity.\n\nBy enabling the production of silicon substrates with significantly larger crystallites (20 μm or more), this innovation drastically reduces the density of these performance-limiting grain boundaries. This allows electrons to flow more freely and efficiently, thereby enhancing device speed, power efficiency, and overall reliability, addressing a long-standing challenge in semiconductor material science. The Method for Preparing a Recrystallised Silicon Substrate with Large Crystallites provides a solution that bridges the gap between the cost of polycrystalline silicon and the performance needs of advanced applications.","question":"What problem does Method for Preparing a Recrystallised Silicon Substrate with Large Crystallites solve?"},{"answer":"The patent data provided indicates that the inventors for Method for Preparing a Recrystallised Silicon Substrate with Large Crystallites (US-9853181) are not specified in the given abstract. This information is typically found in the full patent document, which lists the individuals or teams responsible for the inventive concept.\n\nPatent filings often include the names of the inventors as part of their official record. While the abstract focuses on the technical details of the method itself, a full review of the patent document on the USPTO website or a patent database would reveal the specific individuals credited with this innovation. Identifying the inventors is important for recognizing their contribution to material science and semiconductor technology, as their expertise led to the development of this groundbreaking process for preparing silicon substrates with large crystallites.","question":"Who invented Method for Preparing a Recrystallised Silicon Substrate with Large Crystallites?"},{"answer":"The Method for Preparing a Recrystallised Silicon Substrate with Large Crystallites offers several transformative benefits for advanced electronic devices and energy applications.\n\nFirstly, the most significant benefit is **superior electrical performance**. By achieving average crystallite sizes of 20 μm or more, the density of grain boundaries is drastically reduced. This translates to higher electron mobility, lower electrical resistance, and reduced leakage currents, enabling faster and more efficient devices. Secondly, it leads to **enhanced device efficiency and reliability**. With fewer defects to impede charge carriers, devices built on these substrates can operate more effectively, consume less power, generate less heat, and boast longer operational lifespans.\n\nThirdly, this innovation provides a **cost-effective pathway to high-performance silicon**. While single-crystal silicon offers excellent properties, its manufacturing is expensive. This method starts with more economical polycrystalline silicon and enhances its properties to a level suitable for many demanding applications, bridging the performance-cost gap. Finally, it promotes **innovation in various industries**. From faster microprocessors and more efficient power electronics to higher-performing solar cells and advanced sensors, the Method for Preparing a Recrystallised Silicon Substrate with Large Crystallites unlocks new possibilities for product development and market differentiation.","question":"What are the key benefits of Method for Preparing a Recrystallised Silicon Substrate with Large Crystallites?"},{"answer":"The Method for Preparing a Recrystallised Silicon Substrate with Large Crystallites distinguishes itself from prior art by its unique and precise multi-stage thermomechanical process, which offers superior control over silicon microstructure engineering.\n\nPrior art typically involves either expensive single-crystal growth methods (like Czochralski) for high-performance applications, or less controlled methods for improving polycrystalline silicon that often yield smaller, less uniform grain sizes (e.g., <10 μm). Simple annealing processes for polycrystalline silicon often struggle to achieve consistently large crystallites or precise control over grain growth, resulting in a broad distribution of grain sizes and still a significant density of grain boundaries.\n\nThis patented method's key differentiators include its **dual-stage plastic deformation** (homogeneous then localized, with the local deformation being strictly greater) and the **strategic spacing of external stress areas** (at least 20 μm apart). This precise strain engineering creates targeted nucleation sites for large grains. Furthermore, the **optimized recrystallization heat treatment** (at a temperature strictly greater than the deformation temperature) ensures the effective growth and consumption of smaller grains. This combination provides a level of control and consistency in achieving large crystallites (≥20 μm) that is a significant advancement over previous techniques, offering a more effective and potentially scalable solution for high-performance silicon.","question":"How is Method for Preparing a Recrystallised Silicon Substrate with Large Crystallites different from prior art?"},{"answer":"The Method for Preparing a Recrystallised Silicon Substrate with Large Crystallites is poised to significantly impact several critical industries that rely heavily on high-performance silicon materials.\n\n**Semiconductor Manufacturing** is perhaps the most directly impacted sector. This includes manufacturers of microprocessors, memory chips (DRAM, NAND), power management integrated circuits (PMICs), and logic devices. The improved electrical properties of the silicon substrate will enable faster, more energy-efficient, and more reliable components, pushing the boundaries of computing power and miniaturization. **Power Electronics** will also see substantial benefits. Devices like power MOSFETs, IGBTs, and diodes used in electric vehicles, industrial motor drives, and renewable energy inverters will exhibit reduced energy loss and improved thermal performance, leading to higher system efficiencies and reduced operational costs.\n\nFurthermore, the **Solar Energy Industry** stands to gain immensely. Higher-quality silicon substrates mean photovoltaic cells can convert more sunlight into electricity with greater efficiency, reducing the overall cost per watt of solar power and accelerating the transition to renewable energy sources. Finally, **Advanced Sensors and IoT Devices** will benefit from the enhanced material quality, allowing for more sensitive, accurate, and robust sensors in applications ranging from medical diagnostics to autonomous vehicles and smart infrastructure. The Method for Preparing a Recrystallised Silicon Substrate with Large Crystallites acts as a foundational technology, elevating the performance potential across these diverse and rapidly evolving industries.","question":"What industries will Method for Preparing a Recrystallised Silicon Substrate with Large Crystallites impact?"},{"answer":"The patent for the Method for Preparing a Recrystallised Silicon Substrate with Large Crystallites (US-9853181) was filed on **September 24, 2014**. This date marks when the application was formally submitted to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), initiating the patent examination process.\n\nSubsequently, the patent was published on **December 26, 2017**. The publication date indicates when the patent document became publicly available, allowing researchers, competitors, and the general public to review its details and claims. This timeline reflects the typical process for patent applications, involving a period of examination and review before publication and eventual grant. The grant date, which is when the patent rights are officially conferred, would typically follow the publication date. These dates are important for understanding the intellectual property landscape and the timing of this significant innovation in silicon material science.","question":"When was Method for Preparing a Recrystallised Silicon Substrate with Large Crystallites filed/granted?"},{"answer":"The commercial applications of the Method for Preparing a Recrystallised Silicon Substrate with Large Crystallites are extensive and span multiple high-growth technology sectors. Its ability to produce high-quality silicon substrates with significantly larger crystallites translates directly into enhanced performance and efficiency for a wide array of products.\n\nIn **consumer electronics**, this innovation can lead to faster processors and memory for smartphones, laptops, and wearables, resulting in snappier performance and longer battery life. For **power electronics**, it enables the development of more efficient power conversion devices crucial for electric vehicles, renewable energy inverters, and industrial motor controls, reducing energy waste and operational costs. The **solar energy industry** can utilize these substrates to produce photovoltaic cells with higher energy conversion efficiencies, making solar power more competitive and accelerating its global adoption.\n\nFurthermore, the Method for Preparing a Recrystallised Silicon Substrate with Large Crystallites can improve **advanced sensors** used in automotive (e.g., LiDAR), medical imaging, and industrial automation, leading to greater accuracy and reliability. It also has potential applications in **high-frequency communication devices** (e.g., 5G/6G components) where signal integrity and low loss are paramount. Ultimately, this technology offers a foundational material improvement that can drive product differentiation, open new market segments, and provide a competitive edge for companies across the electronics value chain.","question":"What are the commercial applications of Method for Preparing a Recrystallised Silicon Substrate with Large Crystallites?"},{"answer":"Future developments for the Method for Preparing a Recrystallised Silicon Substrate with Large Crystallites are likely to focus on optimizing the process, expanding its application scope, and integrating it into next-generation manufacturing workflows.\n\nOne key area of development will be **process refinement and scalability**. Researchers and engineers will work to fine-tune the deformation parameters (e.g., specific pressures, temperatures, and durations) and the precise spacing of external stress areas to achieve even larger or more uniformly oriented crystallites. Efforts will also be made to integrate this method seamlessly into existing high-volume silicon wafer fabrication lines, reducing manufacturing costs and increasing throughput. This could involve automation of the localized deformation step and optimization of furnace designs for the recrystallization heat treatment.\n\nAnother direction will be **exploring new material systems and device architectures**. While currently focused on silicon, the underlying principles of controlled strain-induced recrystallization could potentially be adapted to other semiconductor materials. The availability of superior silicon substrates may also inspire novel device designs that leverage the enhanced electrical properties, pushing the boundaries of miniaturization, power handling, and frequency response. Furthermore, **integration with advanced packaging and heterogeneous integration techniques** could unlock new levels of performance for complex systems. The Method for Preparing a Recrystallised Silicon Substrate with Large Crystallites is a foundational technology, and its future evolution will be driven by the relentless demand for higher-performing and more efficient electronic components across all sectors.","question":"What are the future developments expected for Method for Preparing a Recrystallised Silicon Substrate with Large Crystallites?"}],"topics":["silicon substrate","large crystallites","recrystallization","plastic deformation","semiconductor manufacturing","technical","background","polycrystalline"],"tech_cluster":null},"seo":{"title":"Large Crystallite Silicon Substrate - US-9853181 Patent","description":"Discover Method for Preparing a Recrystallised Silicon Substrate with Large Crystallites (US-9853181). Achieve 20µm+ crystallites for enhanced semiconductor performance.","keywords":["silicon substrate","large crystallites","recrystallization","plastic deformation","semiconductor manufacturing","material science","high-performance silicon","US-9853181 patent","silicon engineering","grain growth","device efficiency","advanced materials"]},"attribution":{"source":"Patentable","source_url":"https://patentable.app","canonical_url":"https://patentable.app/patents/US-9853181","license":"CC-BY-4.0-like","license_terms":"AI-generated analysis on this page (summary, layman_explanation, technical_analysis, business_analysis, faqs) may be reused with attribution and a visible link back to the canonical URL above. Patent abstracts, claims, and bibliographic data are USPTO public domain.","required_link":"https://patentable.app/patents/US-9853181","citation_suggestion":"Patentable. \"Method for preparing a recrystallised silicon substrate with large crystallites\" (US-9853181). https://patentable.app/patents/US-9853181","copyright_holder":"Nomic Interactive Technology LLC"},"links":{"html":"https://patentable.app/patents/US-9853181","json":"https://patentable.app/api/llm-context/US-9853181","site":"https://patentable.app","llms_txt":"https://patentable.app/llms.txt"},"generated_at":"2026-06-06T05:59:52.082Z"}