Behavior of implanted hydrogen in thermally stimulated blistering in silicon

The processes of accumulation of ion implanted hydrogen in blisters in silicon and its release during the thermal treatment from 350 to 1020?°C have been studied by optical techniques. It was established that accumulation of gaseous hydrogen inside blisters takes place at temperatures lower than ～450–500?°C and is accompanied by the growth of blister thickness and deformation of their caps. At higher temperatures the gaseous hydrogen goes out of the cavities dissolving in silicon. Due to the internal pressure dropping the elastically deformed top layer partially relaxes and the blister thickness decreases. Etching of the surface layer reveals the agglomerations of small voids (<0.3?mm) located in the place of blisters approximately at their depth. Proceeding from the fact that the processes in blistering are similar to those in ion cut, the following conclusions with respect to the latter were drawn. The exfoliation processes themselves occur at temperatures lower than ～500?°C. The exfoliation efficiency particularly at the higher temperatures is essentially dependent on the heating rate.