Evidence for the existence of a negatively charged hydrogen species in plasma-treated n-type Si

Abstract
We demonstrate the drift of a donor‐passivating hydrogen species under the action of the electric field in the depletion region of a reverse‐biased Au/n‐Si Schottky diode hydrogenated by exposure to a low‐frequency discharge. The redistribution is explained by the unidirectional drift of a negatively charged passivating species and is confirmed by secondary‐ion mass spectrometry profiling in deuterated diodes. The results are consistent with the presence of an acceptor level for hydrogen in n‐type Si, and are analogous to the situation in p‐type Si where drift experiments reveal the existence of positively charged hydrogen donor species.