An investigation was made of the H passivation of P donors in heavily-doped n-type material and of the re-activation of P donors due to dissociation of the created P-Si-H complexes. A remote-treatment method was used for atomic H introduction, and electron spin resonance was used to detect P donors directly. It was found that the passivated fraction strongly depended upon the donor concentration, and that the recovery stage of P donors shifted to higher temperatures, during isochronal annealing, upon decreasing the donor concentration. The most effective substrate temperatures for H passivation were found to range from 100 to 120C. The results suggested that the binding of the P-Si-H complex, which was partially due to Coulomb interaction, decreased with increasing P concentration. This was attributed to the screening effect of conduction electrons upon the Coulombic attraction between Si+ and H-.

N.Fukata, S.Fujimura, K.Murakami: Materials Science Forum, 1995, 196-201, 873-8