The use of nuclear reactions and SIMS for quantitative depth profiling of hydrogen in amorphous silicon

Abstract

Depth profiles for hydrogen in amorphous silicon have been determined by the use of resonant nuclear reactions [¹H(¹⁵N,αγ)¹²C and ¹H(¹⁹F,αγ)¹⁶O] and by secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS). Independent calibration procedures were used for the two techniques. Measurements were made on the same amorphous silicon film to provide a direct comparison of the two hydrogen analysis techniques. The hydrogen concentration in the bulk of the film was determined to be about 9 at.% H. The SIMS results agree with the resonant nuclear reaction results to within 10%, which demonstrates that quantitative hydrogen depth profiles can be obtained by SIMS analysis for materials such as amorphous silicon.