We report the direct observation of a metastable substitutional phosphorus state in hydrogenated amorphous silicon by nuclear-magnetic-resonance spectroscopy. The fourfold site is identified from the spectra's characteristic chemical shift. The substitutional site is removed by "light-soaking" the film and created by low-temperature annealing. Phosphorus relaxation-time measurements indicate Raman processes dominate the spin-lattice relaxation of the phosphorus nuclei.

• Received 27 April 1987

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.36.4525