Effect of dopants on the fracture toughness of silicon

Fracture experiments were conducted on p-type and n-type Si in the presence and absence of hydrogen. It was found that fracture toughness is slightly less than the fracture toughness of n-type silicon. Annealing silicon in an Ar/H2 atmosphere gave a hydrogen concentration of less than 0.1 ppm, which did not have any measurable effect on fracture toughness. Likewise, the exposure of pre-cracked specimens to H2 did not cause any measurable change in fracture toughness.