It was recalled that the annealing of heavily H-implanted samples led to the formation of a specific type of defect, the H-induced platelet. These defects were regarded as being 2-dimensional precipitates of H atoms, arranged in a stable configuration. The growth kinetics of these platelets were studied here, during annealing (800 to 1000C), by means of transmission electron microscopy. It was shown that the growth of these defects occurred via the exchange of H atoms, with the result that larger ones grew at the expense of smaller ones (conservative Ostwald ripening). The activation energy for this growth was found to be equal to about 3.4eV. This value was similar to that found for the effective diffusivity of H in heavily H-implanted SiC.

Kinetic Aspects of the Growth of Hydrogen-Induced Platelets in SiC. J.Grisolia, F.Cristiano, B.De Mauduit, G.Ben Assayag, F.Letertre, B.Aspar, L.Di Cioccio, A.Claverie: Journal of Applied Physics, 2000, 87[12], 8415-9