Room temperature reactions involving silicon dangling bond centers and molecular hydrogen in amorphous SiO2 thin films on silicon

Exposing thin films of amorphous SiO₂ to molecular hydrogen at room temperature converts some silicon dangling bond defects, E´ centers, into two hydrogen coupled complexes. It is argued that these reactions may play important roles in radiation and hot carrier instabilities in metal/oxide/silicon devices. The results suggest that an extension of the recent model of M.R. Shaneyfelt et al. (1990) to include molecular hydrogen/E´ reactions may provide the most reasonable current explanation for the generation of interface traps at the Si/SiO₂ boundary. This extension of the Shaneyfelt model would link the idea of molecular hydrogen/oxide defect reactions proposed by D.L. Griscom (1985) with original proton drift ideas of F.B. McLean (1980) and the Shaneyfelt et al. contribution that the proton liberation process is initiated at oxide hole trap sites