Reconfiguration and dissociation of bonded hydrogen in silicon by energetic ions

We report in situ infrared measurements of ion-induced reconfiguration and dissociation of bonded hydrogen associated with various defects in silicon at low temperatures. Defect-associated Si-H complexes were prepared by low-temperature proton implantation in silicon followed by room-temperature annealing. As a result of subsequent low-temperature He3 ion irradiation, we observed (1) ion-induced dissociation of Si-H complexes, (2) a notable difference in the dissociation rate of interstitial- and vacancy-type defects, and, unexpectedly, (3) the growth of bond-centered hydrogen, which is generally observed in association with low-temperature proton implantation. These findings provide insight into the mechanisms responsible for the dissociation of hydrogen bonds in silicon and thus have important implications for bond-selective nanoscale engineering and the long-term reliability of state-of-the-art silicon semiconductor and photovoltaic devices.