A novel epilayer bonding and substrate removal procedure is described for the fabrication of cleaved-cavity Fabry-Perot resonant cavity lasers. IV-VI semiconductor multiple quantum well (MQW) structures grown on silicon host substrates by molecular beam epitaxy with a CaF2 buffer layer were successfully transferred to the tips of an assembled array of copper bars,. which were then separated after substrate removal to cleave the epilayer structure. Scanning electron microscope images show that this bonding, substrate removal, and cleaving procedure can be used to create {110} and {112} cleaved facets in (111)-oriented IV-VI semiconductor epitaxial layer structures. Photoluminescence data before and after transfer showed that the procedure did not degrade the optical properties of the MQW structures. This technique can enable the fabrication of edge-emitting lasers with improved active region heat dissipation properties. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.