A method of providing a predetermined level and state of stress in a film deposited on a surface of a substrate. In one embodiment, a layer of crystalline material is deposited on a surface of a substrate and then a layer of amorphous material is deposited on the layer of crystalline material. Then, the layers are heated, causing the amorphous material to crystallize. Such crystallization reduces, or even changes the state of, stress in the amorphous layer, which in turn alters the forces applied by the layer to adjacent regions of the substrate. The method may be used for filling a deep-trench capacitor of the type used in trench-storage DRAMs.