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The invention provides a method for reducing the roughness of a free surface of a semiconductor wafer that includes removing material from the free surface of the wafer to provide a treated wafer, and performing a first rapid thermal annealing on the treated wafer in a pure argon atmosphere to subst

The invention provides a method for reducing the roughness of a free surface of a semiconductor wafer that includes removing material from the free surface of the wafer to provide a treated wafer, and performing a first rapid thermal annealing on the treated wafer in a pure argon atmosphere to substantially reduce the roughness of the free surface of the treated wafer. The material removal is selected and conducted to improve the effectiveness of the subsequent rapid thermal annealing in reducing the roughness of the free surface of the treated wafer.

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What is claimed is: 1. A method for reducing the roughness of a free surface of a semiconductor-on-insulator wafer by rapid thermal annealing, comprising: chemically cleaning the free surface of the semiconductor-on-insulator wafer to reduce the amount of pollutants thereon; and performing a first

What is claimed is: 1. A method for reducing the roughness of a free surface of a semiconductor-on-insulator wafer by rapid thermal annealing, comprising: chemically cleaning the free surface of the semiconductor-on-insulator wafer to reduce the amount of pollutants thereon; and performing a first rapid thermal annealing on the cleaned semiconductor-on-insulator wafer in a pure argon atmosphere to substantially reduce the roughness of the free surface of the cleaned semiconductor-on-insulator wafer; wherein the chemical cleaning is performed immediately before placing the semiconductor-on-insulator wafer in an annealing chamber for performing the rapid thermal annealing to improve the effectiveness of the subsequent rapid thermal annealing in reducing the roughness of the free surface of the cleaned semiconductor-on-insulator wafer. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first rapid thermal annealing is performed as single treatment at a temperature of between about 1000° C. and about 1400° C. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first rapid thermal annealing is performed for about 1 second to about 60 seconds. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the chemical cleaning is an HF cleaning comprising treating the semiconductor-on-insulator wafer in an HF bath that has a concentration of HF between about 0.1% and about 50% based on molecular weight and a temperature of between about 15° C. and about 25° C. 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the semiconductor-on-insulator wafer is a silicon-germanium-on-insulator wafer having a silicon germanium surface layer that comprises less than about 30% germanium. 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the semiconductor-on-insulator wafer is prepared by: implanting atomic species in a donor substrate to form a region of weakness therein; bonding a handle substrate to the donor substrate to form a bonded structure, such that the region of weakness defines on opposite sides thereof the semiconductor-on-insulator wafer and another portion of the bonded structure, wherein the semiconductor-on-insulator wafer comprises the handle substrate and a transfer layer of the donor substrate; and applying energy at the region of weakness to detach the semiconductor-on-insulator wafer from the other portion and to provide the free surface on the transfer layer; wherein the chemically cleaning substantially eliminates pollutants on the free surface of the semiconductor-on-insulator wafer. 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising establishing a first atmosphere in an annealing chamber; replacing the first atmosphere with a second atmosphere that comprises a gas selected to eliminate or substantially reduce pollutants on the semiconductor-on-insulator wafer; exposing the free surface of the semiconductor-on-insulator wafer to the second atmosphere to eliminate or substantially reduce pollutants thereon; and replacing the second atmosphere with the pure argon atmosphere for performing the first rapid thermal annealing on the semiconductor-on-insulator wafer. 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the chemical cleaning is an RCA cleaning comprising treating the semiconductor-on-insulator wafer in two successive chemical baths, wherein: the first bath comprises an aqueous solution of ammonium hydroxide and hydrogen peroxide both in concentrations between about 0.5% and about 10% based on molecular weight; the second bath comprises an aqueous solution of hydrogen chloride and hydrogen peroxide both in concentrations between about 0.05% and about 10% based on molecular weight; and the first and second baths have a temperature of between about 10° C. and about 100° C. 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the free surface of the semiconductor-on-insulator wafer comprises silicon, and: the first bath comprises ammonium hydroxide and hydrogen peroxide in concentrations, respectively, of about 1% and about 2% based on molecular weight; the second bath comprises hydrogen chloride and hydrogen peroxide both in concentrations of about 1% based on molecular weight; and the first and second baths have a temperature of between about 60° C. and about 80° C. 10. The method of claim 1, which further comprises removing material from the cleaned surface of the semiconductor-on-insulator wafer by performing at least a first sacrificial oxidation treatment. 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the first sacrificial oxidation treatment comprises: heating the semiconductor-on-insulator wafer in an oxygen atmosphere to form an oxide layer on the free surface of the semiconductor-on-insulator wafer; performing a heat treatment step to cure defects on the free surface of the semiconductor-on-insulator wafer; and removing at least a portion of the oxide layer from the free surface of the semiconductor-on-insulator wafer. 12. The method of claim 10, further comprising removing additional material from the cleaned surface by performing a second sacrificial oxidation treatment on the cleaned surface of the semiconductor-on-insulator wafer after performing the first rapid thermal annealing. 13. The method of claim 10, further comprising: performing a second rapid thermal annealing on the cleaned semiconductor-on-insulator wafer after performing the first rapid thermal annealing; and polishing the free surface of the semiconductor-on-insulator wafer before or after the first or second rapid thermal annealing. 14. A method for reducing the roughness of a free surface of a semiconductor-on-insulator wafer, comprising: forming the semiconductor-on-insulator wafer by: implanting atomic species in a donor substrate to form a region of weakness therein; bonding a handle substrate to the donor substrate to form a bonded structure, such that the region of weakness defines on opposite sides thereof the semiconductor-on-insulator wafer and another portion of the bonded structure, wherein the semiconductor-on-insulator wafer comprises the handle substrate and a transfer layer of the donor substrate; applying energy at the region of weakness to detach the semiconductor-on-insulator wafer from the other portion and to provide the free surface on the transfer layer; chemically cleaning the free surface of the transfer layer of the semiconductor-on-insulator wafer to reduce the amount of pollutants thereon; and performing rapid thermal annealing on the cleaned surface of the semiconductor-on-insulator wafer in a pure argon atmosphere to substantially reduce the roughness of the free surface of the semiconductor-on-insulator wafer; wherein the chemical cleaning is performed immediately before placing the semiconductor-on-insulator wafer in an annealing chamber for performing the rapid thermal annealing to improve the effectiveness of the subsequent rapid thermal annealing in reducing the roughness of the free surface of the cleaned semiconductor-on-insulator wafer. 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the chemical cleaning is an HF cleaning comprising treating the semiconductor-on-insulator wafer in an HF bath that has a concentration of HF between about 0.1% and about 50% based on molecular weight and a temperature of between about 15° C. and about 25° C. 16. The method of claim 14, wherein the semiconductor-on-insulator wafer is a silicon-germanium-on-insulator wafer having a silicon germanium surface layer that comprises less than about 30% germanium. 17. The method of claim 14, wherein the first rapid thermal annealing is performed as single treatment at a temperature of between about 1000° C. and about 1400° C. 18. The method of claim 17, wherein the first rapid thermal annealing is performed for about 1 second to about 60 seconds. 19. The method of claim 14, wherein the chemical cleaning is an RCA cleaning comprising treating the semiconductor-on-insulator wafer in two successive chemical baths, wherein: the first bath comprises an aqueous solution of ammonium hydroxide and hydrogen peroxide both in concentrations between about 0.5% and about 10% based on molecular weight; the second bath comprises an aqueous solution of hydrogen chloride and hydrogen peroxide both in concentrations between about 0.05% and about 10% based on molecular weight; and the first and second baths have a temperature of between about 10° C. and about 100° C. 20. The method of claim 19, wherein the free surface of the semiconductor-on-insulator wafer comprises silicon, and: the first bath comprises ammonium hydroxide and hydrogen peroxide in concentrations, respectively, of about 1% and about 2% based on molecular weight; the second bath comprises hydrogen chloride and hydrogen peroxide both in concentrations of about 1% based on molecular weight; and the first and second baths have a temperature of between about 60° C. and about 80° C.