Hydrogen in Silicon and Germanium: Impurity Activation and Dopant Passivation

摘要

The discovery of hydrogen-related deep and shallow level centers in ultra-pure germanium followed by hydrogen passivation of acceptors and donors in silicon marks the beginning of an exceptionally productive period of research. Both activation of neutral impurities and passivation of electrically active centers, including shallow and deep acceptors and donors, have been investigated with a wide variety of tools. The recent surge in interest in germanium by the silicon device community justifies a review of the effects of hydrogen in germanium, the first group IV semiconductor which exhibited signatures of electrically active hydrogen.