Atomic hydrogen interactions with disordered regions in silicon

This article addresses issues related to hydrogen migration and acceptor deactivation with disordered regions in crystalline Si. It is shown that upon annealing, hydrogenated disordered regions can act as a source of H within the substrate resulting in up to a four decade change in resistivity in the vicinity of the disordered region. From a simple model for this sustained deactivation, an effective diffusion coefficient of H in silicon is calculated for various substrate resistivities. Further, the method of hydrogenation is shown to play a role when migration is to occur across carrier-neutralized zones.