Thermal Expansion of Low-pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition Polysilicon Films

Polysilicon films were deposited using low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) onto oxidized silicon substrates, after which substrate curvature as a function of temperature was measured. The curvatures changed with temperature, implying that the thermal expansion of LPCVD polysilicon differs from that of the single crystal silicon substrate. Further, polysilicon films with tensile residual stresses displayed an increased thermal expansion, while polysilicon films with compressive residual stresses displayed a decreased thermal expansion. Following high temperature annealing, the residual stresses of the polysilicon films were reduced to near zero, and the thermal expansion of the polysilicon films matched that of the single crystal substrate. The apparent change in thermal expansion coefficient due to residual stress was much larger than predicted theoretically.