Koichi Shimakawa - Böcker

Amorphous materials differ significantly from their crystalline counterparts in several ways that create unique issues in their use. This book explores these issues and their implications, and provides a full treatment of both experimental and theoretical studies in the field.Advances in Amorphous Semiconductors covers a wide range of studies on hydrogenated amorphous silicon, amorphous chalcogenides, and some oxide glasses. It reviews structural properties, properties associated with the charge carrier-phonon interaction, defects, electronic transport, photoconductivity, and some applications of amorphous semiconductors. The book explains a number of recent advances in semiconductor research, including some of the editors' own findings. It addresses some of the problems associated with the validity of the effective mass approximation, whether K is a good quantum number, and the concepts of phonons and excitons. It also discusses recent progress made in understanding light-induced degradations in amorphous semiconductors, which is seen as the most limiting problem in device applications.The book presents a comprehensive review of both experimental and theoretical studies on amorphous semiconductors, which will be useful to students, researchers, and instructors in the field of amorphous solids.

Understanding the structural unit of crystalline solids is vital in determining their optical and electronic properties. However, the disordered nature of amorphous semiconductors, where no long-range order is retained, makes it difficult to determine their structure using traditional methods. This book shows how computer modelling can be used to overcome the difficulties that arise in the atomic scale identification of amorphous semiconductors. The book explains how to generate a random structure using computer modelling, providing readers with the techniques to construct realistic material structures. It shows how the optical and electronic properties are related to random structures. Readers will be able to understand the characteristic features of disordered semiconductors. The structural and electronic modifications by photon irradiation are also discussed in detail. This book is ideal for both physicists and engineers working in solid state physics, semiconductor engineering and electrical engineering.

Amorphous semiconductors are subtances in the amorphous solid state that have the properties of a semiconductor and which are either covalent or tetrahedrally bonded amorphous semiconductors or chelcogenide glasses. Developed from both a theoretical and experimental viewpointDeals with, amongst others, preparation techniques, structural, optical and electronic properties, and light induced phenomenaExplores different types of amorphous semiconductors including amorphous silicon, amorphous semiconducting oxides and chalcogenide glassesApplications include solar cells, thin film transistors, sensors, optical memory devices and flat screen devices including televisions

"Amorphous Chalcogenide Semiconductors and Glasses" describes developments in the science and technology of this class of materials. This book offers an up-to-date treatment of chalcogenide glasses and amorphous semiconductors from basic principles to applications while providing the reader with the necessary theoretical background to understanding the material properties technology of this class of materials. This book offers an up-to-date treatment of chalcogenide glasses and amorphous semiconductors from basic principles to applications while providing the reader with the necessary theoretical background to understanding the material properties. Chalcogenides form a special class of materials, which have one or more of the elements from the chalcogen group, Group VI in the Periodic Table (S, Se. or Te) as a constituent; the chalcogen is mixed with other elements to form various "new" compounds and alloys. Chalcogenides are noncrystalline solids because their structure is "amorphous" or "glassy". Such structures have totally different properties than crystalline solids. Chalcogenide glasses have a number of very interesting and useful properties, which have been already exploited in the commercialization of new devices.

This book provides introductory, comprehensive, and concise descriptions of amorphous chalcogenide semiconductors and related materials. It includes comparative portraits of the chalcogenide and related materials including amorphous hydrogenated Si, oxide and halide glasses, and organic polymers.