Films of H-doped material with a wide compositional range, and sometimes with a low O content, were deposited at room temperature. The defects which were observed were attributed to Si dangling bonds, with a structure which depended upon the film composition. In the case of N-rich films, the defects were of the form, •Si(N3). However, in films with a similar [N]/[Si] ratio, but which contained O, the predominant defect was proposed to be •Si(Si2O); in spite of the high N content and the low O content. The spin density of the films was related to the bonds (Si-H or N-H) which H established; with the maximum value corresponding to the minimum H content. Maximum and minimum values were obtained at the Si percolation limit of the Si-Si bonds into the network of H-doped SiN1.10.

S.Garcia, D.Bravo, M.Fernandez, I.Martil, F.J.López: Applied Physics Letters, 1995, 67[22], 3263-5