Damage distributions in hydrogen-bombarded silicon

Depth profiles of 690-keV-${\mathrm{H}}_3^{+}$-ion irradiation damage in silicon have been studied by 1.0-MeV proton channeling at room temperature. Shortcomings of existing dechanneling theories have been experimentally overcome by employing a self-supporting thin specimen of 4.14 μm in thickness. Proton backscattering spectra from the front surface of the specimen and those from the back surface are measured and analyzed respectively for depth profiling of the damage using an integral-equation method. Both damage profiles obtained are combined together to form one complete depth profile in order to make up for the deficiency of the dechanneling theory applied in the analyses. The resultant true damage profile has a sharp peak at a depth of 2.06 μm, which is slightly smaller than the projected range of 230-keV protons. The damage peak is almost Gaussian in shape with a standard deviation of 0.200 μm. The presence of a quite long damage tail has been found, which extends to far below the bombarding-ion ranges, and damage concentrations never become zero even at the back surface (about 2 μm below the damage peak). Slight yield oscillations have been observed below the damage peak.