Abstract
Polycrystalline Sil(1-x)Mn(x) films codoped with boron have been prepared by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering deposition followed by post-thermal processing for crystallization. The polycrystalline thin films were treated by hydrogen plasma excited with approach of radio-frequency plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. It has been found that the saturation magnetization decreases after hydrogenation while the structural properties of the films do not show any change. At the same time, it is observed that after hydrogenation the hole concentration in the films is lower than that before the treatment, believed to be due to a combination between hydrogen and boron. The obvious correlation between the magnetic properties and the transport properties of the polycrystalline Sil-,Mn, films suggests that there be a mechanism of hole-mediated ferromagnetism for Si-based diluted magnetic semiconductors. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.