It was demonstrated that the H passivation of polycrystalline material caused the formation of H-stabilized platelets. These extended defects appeared within 100nm of the sample surface, and were oriented mainly along {111} crystallographic planes. Undoped and P-doped (1017/cm3) samples contained platelet concentrations of about 5 x 1015 and 1.5 x 1016/cm3, respectively. An estimate of the number of H atoms which were accommodated in platelets by forming Si-H bonds was consistent with the H concentration in the surface layer, as measured by secondary ion mass spectrometry. Platelets were not observed in the grain boundary regions. This was attributed to the presence of a depletion layer at grain boundaries which caused H to migrate in a positive charge state which was unfavorable to platelet formation, and to the suppression of platelet nucleation due to the presence of a high concentration of H trapping sites at grain boundaries.

Hydrogen-Induced Platelets in Disordered Silicon. N.H.Nickel, G.B.Anderson, J.Walker: Solid State Communications, 1996, 99[6], 427-31