Hydrogen atom participation in metastable defect formation at Si-SiO, interfaces

This paper discusses mechanisms for defect metastability with H atom participation at Si-SiO, interfaces as in field effect transistors. Reaction pathways are associated with differences in defect bonding properties between positively charged (i) Si atoms and (ii) 0 and N atoms. Defect reaction equations, supported by quantum chemistry calculations, are presented. The metastable defects emphasized here are created by hole trapping followed by H atom attachment