Mq. Tran, ON THERMAL QUENCHING OF THE PHOTOCONDUCTIVITY IN HYDROGENATED AMORPHOUS-SILICON, Philosophical magazine. B. Physics of condensed matter. Structural, electronic, optical and magnetic properties, 72(1), 1995, pp. 35-66
Thermal quenching (TQ) of the photoconductivity sigma(p) is the decrea
se in sigma(p) with increasing temperature. We present an explanation
for TQ of sigma(p) usually observed above 100 K in undoped and weakly
doped hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H). With computer simulatio
ns employing the theory of Simmons and Taylor, we show that TQ is caus
ed by the natural density of gap states of a-Si:H. The onset of therma
l quenching occurs at the temperature T-TQ where the trapped hole dens
ity in the valence band tail has decreased to twice the density N-D of
dangling bonds. We elucidate the experimental observation that T-TQ s
hifts to lower temperatures as the Fermi level shifts toward the valen
ce band or as N-D is increased and explain the reported superlinear de
pendence of the inverse photoconductivity sigma(p)(-1) on N-D. We test
and discuss the validity of the Simmons-Taylor theory by comparing th
e simulated and experimental temperature dependences of the Rose expon
ent gamma, which relates the photoconductivity and the generation rate
.