Controlled drive-in and precipitation of hydrogen during plasma hydrogenation of silicon using a thin compressively strained SiGe layer Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • We have quantitatively studied by transmission electron microscopy the growth kinetics of platelets formed during the continuous hydrogenation of a Si substrate/SiGe/Si heterostructure. We have evidenced and explained the massive transfer of hydrogen from a population of platelets initially generated in the upper Si layer by plasma hydrogenation towards a population of larger platelets located in the SiGe layer. We demonstrate that this type of process can be used not only to precisely localize the micro-cracks, then the fracture line at a given depth but also to clean the top layer from pre-existing defects.

published proceedings

  • Applied Physics Letters

author list (cited authors)

  • Okba, F., Cherkashin, N., Di, Z., Nastasi, M., Rossi, F., Merabet, A., & Claverie, A.