Abstract: Point defects or impurities, which are detrimental to the quality of elecnic components, can be eliminated by means of rearsurface damage, which induces dislocations and/or stacking faults, by means of mechanical stress to the semiconductor wafers used in the manufacture of those components. For this purpose, the semiconductor wafers are brought into contact, before polishing, oxidation and thermal treatment, with moving carrier bodies covered with an elastic carrier medium having abrasive grain bonded to it, which creates the desired mechanical stress by forming a large number of very fine scratches and fissures in the surface of the semiconductor wafers.