Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 February 2011
Undoped polysilicon layers deposited at 620 °C onto a silicon wafer induce a compressive stress of approximately 1 × 109 dynes/cm2 resulting in a bow of the wafer. This stress can be relieved by rapid annealing at temperatures above 1000 °C. A comparison with conventional furnace annealing reveals that the stress relaxation is a weak function of time and strongly depends on temperature. Rapid thermal processing also causes immediate rearrangement of the film structure, as observed by X-ray diffraction. Although both stress and film texture change with annealing, no conclusive relationship is observed.