Properties of Amorphous Silicon and Its Alloys (E M I S DATAREVIEWS SERIES)

Over the last decade there have been major advances in the characterization of amorphous silicon for use in solar cells, TFT liquid crystal displays, photo detectors, LEDs and xerographic devices. In the last decade researchers have succeeded in dispelling much of the uncertainty about its behavior and the associated models, so that engineers are better able to exploit it. Here the essential knowledge of the properties, preparation and exploitation of amorphous silicon are distilled into one volume. Front Matter 1 Introduction 3 Contributing Authors 4 Abbreviations 7 Front Matter 11 Introduction 13 Contributing Authors 14 Abbreviations 17 Table of Contents 21 2. Structural and Vibrational Properties 24 2.1 Structural Information on a-Si:H from IR and Raman Spectroscopy 25 2.2 Structural Information on a-Si:H and Its Alloys from Small Angle Scattering of X-Rays and Neutrons 33 2.3 Data on Hydrogen in a-Si:H from IR and Raman Spectroscopy 42 3. Electronic Structure 47 3.1 Conduction and Valence Band Density of States of a-Si:H - Photoemission, Inverse Photoemission and Core Level Absorption Spectroscopy 48 4. Electronic Transport 68 4.1 Dark Conductivity in Undoped a-Si:H Deposited by Plasma-Enhanced CVD Methods 69 4.2 Mobilities in a-Si:H 77 5. Recombination of Excess Carriers 87 5.1 Luminescence of a-Si:H 88 5.2 Luminescence of a-Si:N:H 96 5.3 Luminescence of a-Si:C:H 103 5.4 Luminescence of a-Si:Ge:H 110 5.5 Light-Induced Defects and the Staebler-Wronski Effect in a-Si:H 115 6. Junctions and Thin Film Transistors 121 6.1 Schottky a-Si:H Devices 122 6.2 a-Si:H/a-Si:X:H Multilayers and Evidence for Quantum Confinement 133 7. Photoelectronic Devices 142 7.1 Amorphous Silicon Solar Cells 143 7.2 Amorphous Silicon Photodetectors 149 7.3 Amorphous Silicon Large Area Displays 155 7.4 Amorphous Silicon Xerographic Applications 161 7.5 Amorphous Silicon Alloy LEDs 167 8. Macroscopic Data 176 8.1 Density of a-Si, a-SiNx, a-SiC and a-SiGe 177 8.2 Elastic Constants of a-Si and a-Si:H 187 8.3 Hardness and Wear of a-Si and a-Si:H 191 8.4 Intrinsic Stress in a-Si and a-Si:H Films 195 8.5 Thermal Expansion Coefficient of a-Si and a-Si:H 198 Index 200 A 200 B 203 C 203 D 205 E 206 F 207 G 208 H 208 I 209 K 210 L 210 M 210 N 211 O 211 P 213 Q 215 R 215 S 216 T 218 U 219 V 219 W 220 X 220 Y 220 Z 220 Content: • Front Matter Introduction • Table of Contents • Interactive Graphs Table (133) 1. Preparation 2. Structural and Vibrational Properties 3. Electronic Structure 4. Electronic Transport 5. Recombination of Excess Carriers 6. Junctions and Thin Film Transistors 7. Photoelectronic Devices 8. Macroscopic Data • Index An extensive collection of research papers on the properties, preparation and exploitation of amorphous silicon, which includes discussion of PECVD growth, transient and steady state photoconductivity, solar cells, photodetectors, LEDs, xerographic applications, and macroscopic data.