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.

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.

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.

Photovoltaic technology has now developed to the extent that it is close to fulfilling the vision of a "solar-energy world," as devices based on this technology are becoming efficient, low-cost and durable. This book provides a comprehensive treatment of thin-film silicon, a prevalent PV material, in terms of its semiconductor nature, starting out with the physical properties, but concentrating on device applications. A special emphasis is given to amorphous silicon and microcrystalline silicon as photovoltaic materials, along with a model that allows these systems to be physically described in the simplest manner possible, thus allowing the student or scientist/engineer entering the field of thin-film electronics to master a few basic concepts that are distinct from those in the field of conventional semiconductors. The main part of the book deals with solar cells and modules by illustrating the basic functioning of these devices, along with their limitations, design optimization, testing and fabrication methods. Among the manufacturing processes discussed are plasma-assisted and hot-wire deposition, sputtering, and structuring techniques.

Today’s solar cell multi-GW market is dominated by crystalline silicon (c-Si) wafer technology, however new cell concepts are entering the market. One very promising solar cell design to answer these needs is the silicon hetero-junction solar cell, of which the emitter and back surface field are basically produced by a low temperature growth of ultra-thin layers of amorphous silicon. In this design, amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) constitutes both „emitter“ and „base-contact/back surface field“ on both sides of a thin crystalline silicon wafer-base (c-Si) where the electrons and holes are photogenerated; at the same time, a-Si:H passivates the c-Si surface. Recently, cell efficiencies above 23% have been demonstrated for such solar cells. In this book, the editors present an overview of the state-of-the-art in physics and technology of amorphous-crystalline heterostructure silicon solar cells. The heterojunction concept is introduced, processes and resulting properties of the materials used in the cell and their heterointerfaces are discussed and characterization techniques and simulation tools are presented.

The aim of this NATO ASI has been to present an up-to-date overview of current areas of interest in amorphous materials, with particular emphasis on electronic properties and device applications. In order to limit the material to a manageable amount, the meeting was concerned almost exclusively with semiconducting materials. This volume should be regarded as a follow-on to the NATO ASI held in Sozopol, Bulgaria in 1996 and published as "Amorphous Insulators and Semiconductors" edited by M.F. Thorpe and M.1. Mitkova (Kluwer Academic Publishers, NATO ASI series, 3 High Technology - Vol. 23). The lectures and seminars fill the gap between graduate courses and research seminars. The lecturers and seminar speakers were chosen as experts in their respective areas, and the lectures and seminars that were given are presented in this volume. During the first week of the meeting, an emphasis was placed on introductory lectures while the second week focused more on research seminars. There were two very good poster sessions that generated a lot of discussion, but these are not reproduced in this volume as the editors wanted to have only larger contributions to make the proceedings more coherent.

After over two decades of focused research and development, silicon carbide (SiC) is now ready for use in the healthcare sector and Silicon Carbide Technology for Advanced Human Healthcare Applications provides an up-to-date assessment of SiC devices for long-term human use. It explores a plethora of applications that SiC is uniquely positioned for in human healthcare, beginning with the three primary areas of technology which are closest to human trials and thus adoption in the healthcare industry: neural implants and spinal cord repair, graphene and biosensors, and finally deep tissue cancer therapy using SiC nanotechnology. Biomedical-inspired engineers, scientists, and healthcare professionals will find this book to be very useful in two ways: (I) as a guide to new ways to design and develop advanced medical devices and (II) as a reference for new developments in the field. The book's intent is to stimulate ideas for further technological enhancements and breakthroughs, which will provide alternative solutions for human healthcare applications. - Discusses the utilization of SiC materials for biomedical applications - Provides a logical pathway to understand why SiC is ideal for several critical applications, in particular for long-term implantable devices, and will serve as a guide to new ways to design and develop advanced medical devices - Serves as a reference for new developments in the field and as a technology resource for medical doctors and practitioners looking to identify and implement advanced engineering solutions to everyday medical challenges that currently lack long-term, cost-effective solutions

Covers a wide range of technologies that actively convert solar radiation into useful heat for applications ranging from space heating, cooking, and domestic hot water supply, to electrical power generation and high temperature thermochemical processes.

Thin-film solar cells are either emerging or about to emerge from the research laboratory to become commercially available devices finding practical various applications. Currently no textbook outlining the basic theoretical background, methods of fabrication and applications currently exist. Thus, this book aims to present for the first time an in-depth overview of this topic covering a broad range of thin-film solar cell technologies including both organic and inorganic materials, presented in a systematic fashion, by the scientific leaders in the respective domains. It covers a broad range of related topics, from physical principles to design, fabrication, characterization, and applications of novel photovoltaic devices.

Introduction to Thin Film Transistors reviews the operation, application and technology of the main classes of thin film transistor (TFT) of current interest for large area electronics. The TFT materials covered include hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H), poly-crystalline silicon (poly-Si), transparent amorphous oxide semiconductors (AOS), and organic semiconductors. The large scale manufacturing of a-Si:H TFTs forms the basis of the active matrix flat panel display industry. Poly-Si TFTs facilitate the integration of electronic circuits into portable active matrix liquid crystal displays, and are increasingly used in active matrix organic light emitting diode (AMOLED) displays for smart phones. The recently developed AOS TFTs are seen as an alternative option to poly-Si and a-Si:H for AMOLED TV and large AMLCD TV applications, respectively. The organic TFTs are regarded as a cost effective route into flexible electronics. As well as treating the highly divergent preparation and properties of these materials, the physics of the devices fabricated from them is also covered, with emphasis on performance features such as carrier mobility limitations, leakage currents and instability mechanisms. The thin film transistors implemented with these materials are the conventional, insulated gate field effect transistors, and a further chapter describes a new thin film transistor structure: the source gated transistor, SGT. The driving force behind much of the development of TFTs has been their application to AMLCDs, and there is a chapter dealing with the operation of these displays, as well as of AMOLED and electrophoretic displays. A discussion of TFT and pixel layout issues is also included. For students and new-comers to the field, introductory chapters deal with basic semiconductor surface physics, and with classical MOSFET operation. These topics are handled analytically, so that the underlying device physics is clearly revealed. These treatments are then used as a reference point, from which the impact of additional band-gap states on TFT behaviour can be readily appreciated. This reference book, covering all the major TFT technologies, will be of interest to a wide range of scientists and engineers in the large area electronics industry. It will also be a broad introduction for research students and other scientists entering the field, as well as providing an accessible and comprehensive overview for undergraduate and postgraduate teaching programmes.