Diffusion and evolution of hydrogen in hydrogenated amorphous and microcrystalline silicon

Hydrogen (H) diffusion and evolution effects in hydrogenated amorphous and microcrystalline silicon (Si) films are discussed. Numerous diffusion and evolution related effects have been discovered and various models for H motion, trapping and evolution effects have been proposed. Microstructure and H diffusion and evolution effects are found to be strongly interdependent. Various aspects of H diffusion in compact material are consistent with a trapping/detrapping motion of atomic H, restricted by H solubility effects and describable in terms of an equilibrium band model. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.