Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon

Book excerpt: Divided roughly into two parts, the book describes the physical properties and device applications of hydrogenated amorphous silicon. The first section is concerned with the atomic and electronic structure, and covers growth defects and doping and defect reactions. The emphasis is on the optical and electronic properties that result from the disordered structure. The second part of the book describes electronic conduction, recombination, interfaces, and multilayers. The special attribute of a-Si:H which makes it useful is the ability to deposit the material inexpensively over large areas, while retaining good semiconducting properties, and the final chapter discusses various applications and devices.