The effect of intense atomic H flux on the defect density in the surface layer of single-crystal Si was studied. It was shown that the formation of local molten regions by pulsed-light heating of Si samples and further analysis of the local melting pattern could be an efficient tool for determining the number of defects introduced by the processing in atomic H. It was found that the processing conditions in atomic H with an exposure dose lower than 2.7 x 1017/cm2 did not change the number of defects in Si; in contrast, conditions with an exposure dose above 3.6 x 1018/cm2 significantly increased the defect density. The increase in the number of defects could be caused by the interaction of atomic H with the Si surface.

Influence of Silicon Processing in Atomic Hydrogen on the Formation of Local Molten Regions as a Result of Pulsed Irradiation with Optical Photons. M.V.Zakharov, V.A.Kagadei, T.N.Lvova, E.V.Nefedtsev, K.V.Oskomov, D.I.Proskurovsky, S.V.Romanenko, Y.V.Fattakhov, I.B.Khaibullin: Semiconductors, 2006, 40[1], 59-63