THERMAL QUENCHING OF THE MINORITY-CARRIER LIFETIME IN A-SI-H

While the phenomenon of thermal quenching of the photoconductivity (i. e., the decrease of the majority-carrier mobility-lifetime product wit h increasing temperature) is well known, the thermal quenching of the minority-carrier mobility-lifetime product has not been reported thus far for any photoconductor. In this paper, we report such an effect in ''device-quality'' hydrogenated amorphous silicon, a-Si:H. It is show n that this unusual phenomenon can be accommodated within the framewor k of available models suggested for intrinsic a-Si:H.