The effect of post-growth H treatments upon non-radiative recombination centers, in undoped or B-doped epilayers that had been grown using molecular beam epitaxy at low temperatures, was studied by means of the optical detection of magnetic resonance. Hydrogen passivation of the predominant non-radiative defects in undoped material was shown to be quite effective. However, in B-doped Si epilayers the effects of H treatment of the same defects were found to be marginal. This difference was attributed mainly to a strong competition for the capture of H by B dopants and/or to a lower trapping coefficient for H of non-radiative defects under the influence of the electric or strain fields which were produced by 6 doping. Two new defects were revealed by the H treatment.

W.M.Chen, I.A.Buyanova, W.X.Ni, G.V.Hansson, B.Monemar: Applied Physics Letters, 1997, 70[3], 369-71