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Abstract

Polycrystalline silicon is deposited in a film onto the surface of a substrate which has been carefully prepared to eliminate any defects or contaminants which could nucleate crystal growth on the substrate. The deposition is carried out by low pressure decomposition of silane at substantially 580.degree. C. to cause a film of fine grained crystals of polysilicon to be formed having grain sizes averaging less than about 300 Angstroms after annealing. Such a film is very uniform and smooth, having a surface roughness less than about 100 Angstroms RMS. Annealing of the film and substrate at a low temperature results in a compressive strain in the field that decreases over the annealing time, annealing at high temperatures (e.g., over 1050.degree. C.) yields substantially zero strain in the film, and annealing at intermediate temperatures (e.g., 650.degree. C. to 950.degree. C.) yields tensile strain at varying strain levels depending on the annealing temperature and time. Further processing of the polysilicon films and the substrate can yield isolated diaphragms of the polysilicon film which are supported only at edges by the substrate and which have substantial lateral dimensions, e.g., 1 cm by 1 cm. Such that structures can be used as pressure sensor diaphragms, X-ray masks, and optical filters, and can be provided with holes of varying sizes, shape and number, which can serve as X-ray mask patterns. The diaphragms can be provided with numerous holes of uniform size and spacing which allows the diaphragms to be used as filters in ultrafiltration applications.

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