Reversible conductivity changes in dischargehyphen;produced amorphous Si

摘要

A new reversible photoelectronic effect is reported for amorphous Si produced by glow discharge of SiH4. Long exposure to light decreases both the photoconductivity and the dark conductivity, the latter by nearly four orders of magnitude. Annealing above 150thinsp;deg;C reverses the process. A model involving optically induced changes in gap states is proposed. The results have strong implications for both the physical nature of the material and for its applications in thinhyphen;film solar cells, as well as the reproducibility of measurements on dischargehyphen;produced Si.