In this paper, we explore the possibility to combine plasma hydrogenation and stress engineering to replace the traditional hydrogen ion implantation and annealing process used to exfoliate silicon thin films. For this, we have quantitatively studied by TEM the growth kinetics of platelets formed during the continuous hydrogenation of a Si substrate/SiGe/Si heterostructure. We have evidenced the massive transfer of hydrogen from a population of platelets initially generated in the upper Si layer by plasma hydrogenation towards a population of larger platelets located in the SiGe layer. A detailed scenario is proposed to explain the results, which considers the Ostwald ripening of a population of precipitates in presence of a constant source and of a sink of increasing efficiency. Finally, we demonstrate that this type of process can be used not only to precisely localize the microcracks, then the fracture line at a given depth, but also to « clean » the top layer from pre-existing defects. ; JRC.I.4-Nanobiosciences