I. Introduction
Hydrogen is ubiquitous in semiconductor device manufacturing. It is introduced intentionally to passivate defects, e.g., dangling bonds at or near the interface, but is also bonded at sites throughout typical MOS and bipolar device structures. At elevated temperatures, under bias, and/or during irradiation, hydrogen can be released and act as an agent of degradation, depassivating existing defects or generating new ones. The atomic-scale mechanisms of these processes have been studied extensively [1]–[5]. During irradiation, for example, protons are released in the oxide, migrate to the interface, and react there to depassivate defects and cause interface trap buildup [2], [6]–[8].