Thermoelectric properties of hydrogen ion-irradiated silicon crystals under ultrahigh pressures of up to 20 GPa

The thermopower S of p-Si samples containing a thin hydrogenated layer was studied at high pressures P of up to 20 GPa. Near the phase transition to a white-tin lattice (P ≤ 10 GPa), the thermopower of samples with a hydrogenated layer was found to decrease as compared to that in the starting p-Si samples. However, the values of S of high-pressure metallic phases with a β-Sn structure and orthorhombic (above 12 GPa) and simple hexagonal (above 16 GPa) structures are approximately the same for different sample groups. The variation in crystal structure induced by pressure treatment was studied by ultrasoft x-ray spectroscopy. The observed decrease in S induced by the pressure treatment is tentatively assigned to the formation of an amorphous phase in addition to the Si-III metastable phase.