a micromachining technology using merged epitaxial lateral overgrowth (melo) of silicon, combined with sio/sub 2/ as an etch-stop, was developed. when epitaxial lateral overgrowth (elo) silicon merges on top of sio/sub 2/ islands, it forms a local silicon-on-insulator (soi) film which can be transformed into a thin silicon diaphragm needed for micromechanical sensors. the sio/sub 2/ islands then act as a near-perfect etch-stop during back etching due to its negligible etch rate in koh- or ethylenediamine-based solution. this technique permits the formation of both transducers and transistor structures in the same film since it does not require a highly doped film for the etch-stop. the diaphragm thickness is controlled by the epitaxial silicon growth rate ( approximately=0.1 mu m/min) rather than by traditional etching techniques. a single-crystal silicon diaphragm 9 mu m thick and 250 mu m*1000 mu m was realized. diodes fabricated in the melo silicon showed characteristics similar to those in bulk silicon, including reverse bias leakage currents