CHANGES IN ELECTRICAL CONDUCTANCE OF HYDROGENATED AMORPHOUS-SILICON DEPOSITED ON OPTICAL WAVE-GUIDES IN GLASS

A study of electrical conductance of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a -Si:H) films deposited on optical waveguides in a soda-lime glass (SLG ) substrate is carried out, from the viewpoint of electrical instabili ty of a-Si:H caused by the penetration of Na ions from the glass into the film. The optical waveguides were prepared by K+-Na+ or Ag+-Na+ io n exchange using thermal or field-assisted methods. The effective thic kness of optical waveguides was of several micrometers. The obtained r esults show that in the case of a-Si:H film deposited on silver wavegu ide there is a dependence of electrical conductance on measurement dur ation, if strongly weakened as compared with film deposited on the ori ginal SLG substrate. The a-Si:H films deposited on potassium waveguide and on Na-extracted surface are as stable, as the referent samples wi th Coming 7059 (Na-free) glass substrate. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.