A process to obtain self-supported thin silicon films is being developed. Films are grown by optical chemical vapour deposition (CVD) (using halogen lamps as heating system) from silane, at low temperature and relatively high growth rates, on silicon substrates with a sacrificial layer of porous Si (PS), which allows film detachment. The PS layer was formed by anodisation of the Si-substrate surface in a HF:ethanol solution. Film deposition was carried out in an optical cold wall horizontal CVD reactor, operating at atmospheric pressure, and specially designed for this study. Deposition rates and film morphology were studied as a function of substrate nominal temperature, gas concentration and flux. In the final chosen conditions, deposition occurs at a nominal temperature of 840degreesC, with a silicon growth rate between 2 and 4 mum/min, which is relatively high for the low temperature used. A good usage of silane gas was already achieved, with 80-85% of the silicon in the silane gas being deposited on a 40 x 40 mm 2 substrate, with very low deposition rate on the reactor wall. Films of thicknesses from 10 to 150 mum were deposited. The films were found to be continuous with surfaces coated with whiskers. Film detachment from multicrystalline substrates has proved unsuccessful so far, while it readily occurs when monocrystalline substrates are used. The reason for this is macropore collapse and film rupture, usually occurring in the smaller grain regions of the multicrystalline substrates. (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.