Stress and Microstructural Evolution of Lpcvd Polysilicon Thin Films During High Temperature Annealing

The mechanisms of stress generation and stress relaxation of LPCVD silicon thin films were studied using high temperature wafer curvature measurements. The stresses generated during depositions are measured as functions of deposition temperature and microstructure. Amorphous silicon deposited with a compressive stress shows a large stress change toward tensile during crystallization. The stress relaxation of polysilicon films deposited with tensile stresses can be described by a deformation model from Ashby and Frost [1]. The polysilicon films deposited with compressive stresses have hydrogen incorporated during deposition and shows hydrogen evolution during thermal cycles.