Hydrogen/Deuterium-defect complexes involved in the ion cutting of Si (0 0 1) at the sub-100 nm scale

We studied the thermal evolution of H/D-stabilized defects aiming at understanding the microscopic mechanisms leading to crystalline silicon surface blistering and exfoliation. The critical hydrogen-defect complexes involved in this phenomenon have been identified by Raman spectroscopy analysis. A plausible mechanism for the ion-cut process emerging from our analyses is proposed. Surprising but instructive effects observed under isotope substitution are also discussed.