Orientation of H platelets under local stress in Si

Abstract

Hydrogen is implanted into 001 silicon under the strain field of previously formed overpressurized helium plates. Upon thermal annealing, the hydrogen atoms precipitate into platelet structures oriented within specific 111 or 001 variant determined through the local symmetry of the strain. The behavior is understood in terms of elastic interactions and is described via energy minimization calculations, predicting the formation and distribution of each platelet orientation variant. Our results demonstrate the concept that sublocal organized arrangements of precipitates can be obtained within nanosize domains using local strain fields.