Silicon, amorphous

The setup as seen in Figure 1 mainly consists of a Varian Linatron 3000A linear accelerator (LINAC) as radiation source, a rotational stage for sample manipulation, and a two-dimensional high-energy x-ray detector array consisting of four amorphous silicon area detectors Heimann RIS 256. The source to detector distance is 3.7 m. 

The detector setup consists of four 256 x 256 pixel amorphous silicon technology sensor flat panels with 0.75 x 0.75 mm pixel size, having an active area of 192 x 192 mm [5j. These sensors are radiation sensitive up to 25 MeV and therefor well suited for detecting the LINAC radiation. The four devices are mounted onto a steel Irame each having the distance of one active area size from the other. With two vertical and two horizontal movements of the frame it is possible to scan a total area of about 0.8 x 0.8 m with 1024 x 1024 pixel during four independent measurements. 

Therefore it is reasonable to prepare already the data acquisition for a three dimensional evaluation in cone-beam-technique by means of two-dimensional detectors. The system is already prepared to integrate a second detector- system for this purpose. An array of up to four flat panel detectors is foreseen. The detector- elements are based on amorphous silicon. Because of the high photon energy and the high dose rates special attention was necessary to protect the read-out electronics. Details of the detector arrangement and the software for reconstruction, visualisation and comparison between the CT results and CAD data are part of a separate paper during this conference [2]. 

After oxygen, silicon is the most abundant element in the earth s crust, It occurs extensively as the oxide, silica, in various forms, for example, flint, quartz, sand, and as silicates in rocks and clays, but not as the free element, silicon. Silicon is prepared by reduction of silica, Si02- Powdered amorphous silicon can be obtained by heating dry powdered silica with either powdered magnesium or a... 

Crystalline silicon has the tetrahedral diamond arrangement, but since the mean thermochemical bond strength between the silicon atoms is less than that found between carbon atoms (Si—Si, 226 kJmol , C—C, 356kJmol ), silicon does not possess the great hardness found in diamond. Amorphous silicon (silicon powder) is microcrystalline silicon. 

L. silex, silicis, flint) Davy in 1800 thought silica to be a compound and not an element later in 1811, Gay Lussac and Thenard probably prepared impure amorphous silicon by heating potassium with silicon tetrafluoride. 

In 1824 Berzelius, generally credited with the discovery, prepared amorphous silicon by the same general method and purified the product by removing the fluosilicates by repeated washings. Deville in 1854 first prepared crystalline silicon, the second allotropic form of the element. 

Silicon is prepared commercially by heating silica and carbon in an electric furnace, using carbon electrodes. Several other methods can be used for preparing the element. Amorphous silicon can be prepared as a brown powder, which can be easily melted or vaporized. The Gzochralski process is commonly used to produce single crystals of silicon used for solid-state or semiconductor devices. Hyperpure silicon can be prepared by the thermal decomposition of ultra-pure trichlorosilane in a hydrogen atmosphere, and by a vacuum float zone process. 

Hydrogenated amorphous silicon has shown promise in producing economical cells for converting solar energy into electricity. 

Good solar cell results have been obtained from cells of materials, including polycrystaUine silicon, amorphous silicon—hydrogen (a-Si H) alloys, Cu S—CdS, CuInSe2—CdS, and CdTe. 

Amorphous Silicon. Amorphous alloys made of thin films of hydrogenated siUcon (a-Si H) are an alternative to crystalline siUcon devices. Amorphous siUcon ahoy devices have demonstrated smah-area laboratory device efficiencies above 13%, but a-Si H materials exhibit an inherent dynamic effect cahed the Staebler-Wronski effect in which electron—hole recombination, via photogeneration or junction currents, creates electricahy active defects that reduce the light-to-electricity efficiency of a-Si H devices. Quasi-steady-state efficiencies are typicahy reached outdoors after a few weeks of exposure as photoinduced defect generation is balanced by thermally activated defect annihilation. Commercial single-junction devices have initial efficiencies of ca 7.5%, photoinduced losses of ca 20 rel %, and stabilized efficiencies of ca 6%. These stabilized efficiencies are approximately half those of commercial crystalline shicon PV modules. In the future, initial module efficiencies up to 12.5% and photoinduced losses of ca 10 rel % are projected, suggesting stabilized module aperture-area efficiencies above 11%. 

Fig. 4. Some electronic device applications using amorphous silicon (a) solar cell, (b) thin-fiLm transistor, (c) image sensor, and (d) nuclear particle detector.

G. Bmno, P. Cape22uto, and A. Madan, eds.. Plasma Deposition of Amorphous Silicon Based Materials, Academic Press, Inc., New York, 1995. 

A. J. Bevolo, M. L. Albers, H. R. Shanks, and J. Shinar. J. Appl. Phys. 62, 1240, 1987. VEELS in fixed-spot mode to depth profile hydrogen in amorphous silicon films to determine hydrogen mobility at elevated temperatures. 

Figures High mass resoiution mass spectrum obtained from a phosphorus-doped amorphous silicon hydride thin film using a magnetic sector ion microanalyzer. The peak is well separated from the hydride iirterferences.

Street, R.A. (1991) Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge). 

Amorphous silicon modules experience a conversion efficiency loss of about 10 percent when initially exposed to sunlight, but then stabilize at the reduced figure. The mechanism for this reduction is being actively investigated, but is still not well understood. Individual modules made with other PV materials do not exliibit such loss of conversion efficiency, but combinations of modules in arrays do exhibit systematic reductions in power output over their lifetimes. Estimated at about 1 percent per year on average, based on data to date, these reductions are most likely associated with deteriorating electrical connections and non-module electrical components. 

In disordered materials such as amorphous silicon, the mobility is so low that it would correspond to a mean free path lower than the distance between atomic sites, which is not physically pertinent. In a classical paper, Anderson [20 has shown that disorder in a solid may result in a localization of the states, in which case the one-electron wave function takes an exponential form... 

The chemistry of silicon in very low oxidation states is one of the most fascinating research areas, which can be located between molecular compounds of silicon and elemental (perhaps amorphous) silicon [190-194]. Most interesting results have recently been obtained by structural investigations of siliddes in Zintl phases. However, compounds of silicon with negative oxidation states and very low coordination numbers of 1, 2, and 3 are so far only known in the composite of a crystal lattice. 

Silicic acid silica gel amorphous silicon dioxide... 

Textured Tin Oxide Films Produced by Atmospheric Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition from Tetramethyltin and Their Usefulness in Producing Light Trapping in Thin-Film Amorphous Silicon Solar Energy Mater., 18 263-281 (1989)... 

Limitations of Plasma CVD. With plasma CVD, it is difficult to obtain a deposit of pure material. In most cases, desorption of by-products and other gases is incomplete because of the low temperature and these gases, particularly hydrogen, remain as inclusions in the deposit. Moreover, in the case of compounds, such as nitrides, oxides, carbides, or silicides, stoichiometry is rarely achieved. This is generally detrimental since it alters the physical properties and reduces the resistance to chemical etching and radiation attack. However in some cases, it is advantageous for instance, amorphous silicon used in solar cells has improved optoelectronic properties if hydrogen is present (see Ch. 15). 

Amorphous Silicon. Amorphous silicon is generally deposited by Reaction (4) at a deposition temperature of 560°C and at low pressure (ca. 1 Torr).P l Helium RF plasma CVD is also commonly used, especially in the production of solar photovoltaic devices. 

---