Deep levels introduced into silicon during hydrogen plasma annealing

Abstract

We report the introduction of deep energy levels into silicon following a hydrogen plasma anneal at 300 °C for 3 h. The wafers were heat treated prior to the hydrogen anneal to cause oxygen to precipitate using a three-cycle high-low-high anneal. The deep level impurity concentrations generally exhibited a decreasing density into the wafer, indicative of damage originating from the surface. These findings are in contrast to other reported hydrogen plasma anneal results which generally show a reduction of deep level concentrations.