Comparison of platelet formation in hydrogen and helium-implanted silicon

A comparative transmission electron microscopy study of the extended defects formed in (0 0 1) Si after hydrogen or helium implantation was performed. Quantitative data on the size and density of the defects with different crystallographic variants have been obtained. Common defects observed after implants with a dose of 1 × 1016 cm−2 and isothermal anneals at 350 °C in the presence of a stiffener were platelet-like structures lying on {1 0 0} habit planes parallel and perpendicular to the wafer surface. The differences in the defect morphology and in the variant platelet population are correspondingly related to the different chemical reactivity of H and He and the different compressive biaxial stresses generated by the H and He implants.