Quenching-dependent reversible modification of electronic structure of proton-implanted silicon

Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) studies of proton-implanted silicon were performed in the temperature range 8–300 K. Samples were annealed at 670–870 K and subsequently were heat-treated at a temperature in the range of 340–570 K with following quenching to room temperature in water. FT-IR data taken at near-liquid He temperatures reveal that well-known higher-order IR bands related to 〈1 0 0〉 self-interstitials are quenching-dependent in proton-implanted silicon and their behaviour correlates with the behaviour of far IR absorption lines associated with hydrogen-related shallow donor nanoclusters. The origin of this quenching-dependent reversible modification of electronic structure of proton-implanted silicon is discussed.