The invention relates to a method for producing a substrate-product substrate combination by aligning, contacting and bonding the contact side (20) of a flat substrate (2, 2') with the supporting face (50) of a support substrate (5, 5'), said flat substrate (2, 2') when contacted having a greater average diameter d1 than the average diameter d2 of the support substrate (5, 5'). The invention also relates to a substrate (2, 2') for producing a substrate-product substrate combination by aligning, contacting and bonding the contact side (20) of the flat substrate (2, 2') with the supporting face (50) of a support substrate (5, 5'), said substrate (2, 2') having a diameter d1 which owing to the cross-sectional form of the substrate (2, 2') can be reduced during the backthinning of the peripheral contour (2u) of said substrate. The invention also relates to a corresponding device and to the use of a flat substrate (2) with an average diameter d1, for aligning and contacting with a support substrate (5) having an average diameter d2 in order to further process the flat substrate (2), the average diameter d1 being greater than the average diameter d2.