Passivation of lattice defects in silicon by electron cyclotron resonance hydrogenation technique

Atomic hydrogen can neutralize the “dangling bonds” associated with lattice defects in silicon wafers; and therefore has found important applications in manufacturing of several silicon devices. The electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) hydrogenation technique was used for passivation of structural defects produced by low-energy Si implantation in silicon wafers. Schottky-diode I/V measurements were used to study the effect of hydrogenation in defect compensation in the samples. Remarkable (more than 90%) recovery towards the I/V characteristics of the undamaged sample was observed in case of moderately damaged n-type samples. Although ECR hydrogenation (at 490°C substrate temperature during the process) produced noticeable improvements in the case of highly damaged n-type samples, many defects were still left uncompensated in these samples. The effect of the hydrogenation process was less prominent in the case of p-type samples. Explanations for the observed results are given