Influence of low-energy atomic hydrogen on argon-implanted silicon schottky barriers

Low-energy (0.4 keV), high-dose (~ 10¹⁸ cm^-2) H⁺ implantation into n-type and p-type Si previously implanted with Ar has resulted in unusual modification of the Si surface barrier. The complex interaction of these ions in Si has resulted in Al/p-Si Schottky diodes with an effective barrier height of 0.83 eV, the highest reported value for any metal/p-Si contact. The corresponding complementary influence of atomic hydrogen on n-Si is not seen, suggesting specific interactions between H and the dopant or the formation of a surface layer of hydrogenated amorphous silicon.