Abstract: The method of manufacture of the present invention provides a wafer that is better than a bulk monocrystalline silicon wafer and equivalent to silicon on sapphire (SOS) wafers for use as substrates for integrated circuits. The method comprises taking an inexpensive slab of silicon having <111> crystal orientation and by low pressure CVD, high pressure CVD, or plasma deposition techniques depositing a polycrystalline layer of sapphire on the <111> silicon base. The polycrystalline layer of sapphire is then annealed at an elevated temperature to form a monocrystalline layer having a <1101> orientation. A single crystalline layer of silicon having <111> crystal orientation is then epitaxially grown on the sapphire. The resultant multilayer wafer is equivalent in function and reliability to a silicon on sapphire wafer without the commensurate cost.