Anomalous characteristics of platelet defects formed by zero angle tilt hydrogen implantation in silicon wafers

The platelet defects in silicon wafers incorporating hydrogen by zero angle tilt (zero-tilt) implantation have been investigated by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM). It is found that there appear similar alignment characteristics of the platelets in zero-tilt implantation samples to those in tilt implantation samples. The platelets lie mostly along the planes parallel to the surface and are laterally staggered. The platelet size distribution in zero-tilt implantation samples can also be fitted with a Gaussian function as it is in tilt implantation samples. However, great differences from tilt implantation samples have been first found in zero-tilt implantation samples. The platelet size and spacing in zero-tilt implantation samples dramatically increase close to the bottom of the damaged band and reach quite large values. It is suggested that these anomalous variations are ascribed to the channeling effect.