Dominant boron-related radiation defect in silicon revealed by hydrogenation

It is observed in the boron-doped crystals irradiated with 5.5 MeV electrons that the H3-center with a donor level at Ev+0.535 eV is formed by addition of one hydrogen atom to a radiation defect - the H3 precursor. Although the H3 precursor still escapes detection with electrical methods, its introduction rate θ can be determined via the maximum concentration of the H3-centers. θ linearly increases with boron concentration in low-doped samples indicating one boron atom in the complex, and saturates at θ≅0.1 cm-1 for [B]=(3-20)x1015 cm-3. Analysis of the interstitial/vacancy balance reveals the interstitial nature of the defect. The identification of the H3 precursor as the BiCs pair and the H3-center as a BCH complex is in a good agreement with the available experimental data