Amorphous And Microcrystalline Silicon Technology 1998

Although this is the 16th volume in a long-standing and successful series, the focus is no longer limited to hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H). The distinction between short- and medium-range order, and between homogeneous and heterogeneous semiconductor materials, is indeed too difficult to maintain. Instead, the volume covers amorphous and microcrystalline silicon from materials physics to new applications. Papers from a joint session with a symposium on Flat-Panel Display Materials and Large-Area Processes are included. The volume also features special focused sessions on heterogeneous materials, color sensors and radiation imaging, and parameter extraction and device modelling. Topics include: amorphous and polycrystalline thin-film transistors; solar cells; color and X-ray sensors, novel devices, luminescence and sensitization; device modelling and parameter extraction; growth, alloys and clathrates; metastability, hydrogen, atomic and electronic structure; defects and charge transport; and heterogeneous silicon - formation, properties and devices.

Amorphous silicon solar cell technology has evolved considerably since the first amorphous silicon solar cells were made at RCA Laboratories in 1974. Scien tists working in a number of laboratories worldwide have developed improved alloys based on hydrogenated amorphous silicon and microcrystalline silicon. Other scientists have developed new methods for growing these thin films while yet others have developed new photovoltaic (PV) device structures with im proved conversion efficiencies. In the last two years, several companies have constructed multi-megawatt manufacturing plants that can produce large-area, multijunction amorphous silicon PV modules. A growing number of people be lieve that thin-film photovoltaics will be integrated into buildings on a large scale in the next few decades and will be able to make a major contribution to the world's energy needs. In this book, Ruud E. I. Schropp and Miro Zeman provide an authoritative overview of the current status of thin film solar cells based on amorphous and microcrystalline silicon. They review the significant developments that have occurred during the evolution of the technology and also discuss the most im portant recent innovations in the deposition of the materials, the understanding of the physics, and the fabrication and modeling of the devices.

While the original focus of this long-standing series from the Materials Research Society was on hydrogenated amorphous silicon, the symposia have now expanded to incorporate microcrystalline silicon. The two, in fact, are very closely connected since the latter material can be grown by making comparatively small changes to the deposition conditions for amorphous silicon. This book offers an interesting variety of papers on deposition techniques, materials properties, characterization methods and devices - nearly all focused on thin-film forms of hydrogenated silicon. Topics include: Staebler-Wronski and fundamental defect studies in amorphous silicon; the story of hydrogen in amorphous silicon; photoelectric properties of amorphous silicon; deposition and properties of microcrystalline silicon; deposition studies for amorphous silicon and related materials; solar cells; thin-film transistors and sensors and novel device concepts.

This book gives the first systematic and complete survey of technology and application of amorphous silicon, a material with a huge potential in electronic applications. The book features contributions by world-wide leading researchers in this field.

This comprehensive, detailed treatise on the physics and applications of the new emerging technology of amorphous semiconductors focuses on specific device research problems such as the optimization of device performance. The first part of the book presents hydrogenated amorphous silicon type alloys, whose applications include inexpensive solar cells, thin film transistors, image scanners, electrophotography, optical recording and gas sensors. The second part of the book discusses amorphous chalcogenides, whose applications include electrophotography, switching, and memory elements. This book will serve as an excellent reference source for solid state scientists and engineers, and as a useful self-contained introduction to the field for graduate students.

This book from the highly successful series on amorphous-silicon science and devices reflects the increasing range of applications for a-Si technology. Advances in solar cells incorporating microcrystalline silicon absorber layers are discussed, and a new manufacturing facility for amorphous-silicon-based tandem solar cells is highlighted. Progress towards realizing both higher resolution and improved visibility in active-matrix liquid crystal displays is featured. And while work on raising the deposition rate for amorphous-silicon transistors is also outlined, it is expected that advances in devices and manufacturing will be accelerated when several fundamental puzzles regarding amorphous silicon's structure and optoelectronic properties are resolved. Topics include: solar cells; thin-film transistors and flat-panel displays; sensors, detectors and novel devices; device physics; deposition technologies; studies of growth processes; hydrogen and structure a-Si:H; defects and equilibration in a-Si:H; fundamental issues in defect processes; transport and recombination processes; thin films for photovoltaic and related device applications.