For selective etching of SiO2on silicon, gases or gas mixtures containing hydrogen are often used. Hydrogen from the glow discharge promotes the formation of a thin film polymer layer responsible for the selectivity of the etching process. The reactive ion etch (RIE) process is known to create damage in the silicon substrate. The influence of hydrogen on the damage and deactivation of dopants is investigated in the present work. The distribution of hydrogen in silicon, after different etching and annealing conditions have been studied. The influence of the RIE process on the charge carrier concentration in silicon has been investigated. Various analytical techniques like contact resistivity measurements, four point probe measurements, and Hall measurements have been used to determine the influence of the RIE process on the electrical properties of processed silicon wafers. The hydrogen profile in as‐etched and post annealed wafers was determined by the1H(15N,αγ)12C nuclear reaction. The depth of the deactivated surface layer is discussed in terms of the impinging hydrogen ion energy, i.e., the possibility of H+ions to pick up an energy equal to the peak‐to‐peak voltage of the rf signal.