Agency of Industrial Science and Technology

Atsushi Ando

Kunihiro Sakamoto

A method for surface flattening a crystal substrate includes (a) processing a surface of a silicon single crystal substrate, the surface deviating by 0.1.degree. or less from the (001) plane, so as to form a processed zone thereon which is an obstacle to the movement of surface steps present on the surface of the silicon single crystal substrate and which is adjacent to a preselected region having a surface to be flattened when viewed on an atomic level; (b) holding the substrate processed in step (a) in a chamber having an adjustable degree of vacuum so that the substrate has a temperature which is controlled by direct-current passage and heating; and (c) heating the substrate to move the surface steps along the substrate from the preselected region and gather the surface steps in the processed zone, thereby forming a flat surface in the preselected region of the substrate when viewed on the atomic level. In one embodiment, the direction of direct-current passage is displaced from the �1 1 0! and �1 1 0! directions, whereby the surface of the preselected region is flattened in all directions of the substrate surface.

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Tsukuba, Japan

Atsushi Ando