A method for treating a film of material, which can be defined on a
substrate, e.g., silicon. The method includes providing a substrate
comprising a cleaved surface, which had a porous silicon layer thereon.
The substrate may have a distribution of hydrogen bearing particles
defined from the cleaved surface to a region underlying said cleaved
surface. The method also includes increasing a temperature of the cleaved
surface to greater than about 1,000 Degrees Celsius while maintaining the
cleaved surface in a etchant bearing environment to reduce a surface
roughness value by about fifty percent and greater. Preferably, the value
can be reduced by about eighty or ninety percent and greater, depending
upon the embodiment.
