Defect hydrogen platelet

In addition to the generation of platelets, hydrogenation of silicon also induces electronic deep levels in the band gap. As in the case of platelet formation, these defects are considered to be unrelated to either plasma or radiation damage because they can be introduced with a remote hydrogen plasma. Comparison of depth distributions and annealing kinetics of the platelets and gap states has been used to a limited extent to probe the relationship among these manifestations of H-induced defects. 

Apart from its role in interacting with existing defects and impurities, hydrogen has recently been shown to induce defects as well (Johnson et al., 1987). Extended defects (described as platelets ) in the near-surface region were observed after hydrogenation and correlated with the presence of large concentrations of H. Theoretical models will be discussed in Part VIII. Part IX, finally, will contain some conclusions and point out directions for future work. As is the case for so many other topics in semiconductor physics, silicon (Si) has been the material for which the majority of... 

Johnson and coworkers (Johnson etal., 1986a) found that shallow donor dopants in n-type single-crystal silicon could also be neutralized by hydrogenation, although not as effectively as with boron, Further investigations led Johnson and coworkers (Johnson et al., 1987) to discover the surprising result that H can insert itself between Si—Si bonds to form extended structural defects that may be described as hydrogen-stabilized platelets. 

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