Amorphous Silicon [Hardcover]

Kazunobu Tanaka (Author), Eiichi Maruyama (Author), Toshikazu Shimada (Author), Hiroaki Okamoto (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471982938 | ISBN-13: 978-0471982937 | Publication Date: April 1, 1999 | Edition: 1

Amorphous Silicon Kazunobu Tanaka National Institute for Advanced Interdisciplinary Research, Ibaraki, Japan Eiichi Maruyama Hitachi Ltd, Ibaraki, Japan Toshikazu Shimada Hitachi Ltd, Ibaraki, Japan Hiroaki Okamoto Osaka University, Osaka, Japan Translated by Takeshi Sato, National Institute for Advanced Interdisciplinary Research, Ibaraki, Japan Amorphous silicon has substantially different properties as compared to crystalline silicon. It has therefore become recognized as a fascinating and important material in its own right, with many interesting facets that lead to a range of novel and still developing applications. Amorphous Silicon introduces the reader to this field by first discussing what is meant by the amorphous state. It details the way in which amorphous silicon is prepared, and the growth mechanism. The main structural, optical and electronic properties are then covered in detail, and there is a full chapter on the structural stability of the material, including photoinduced effects. Finally, a number of the most exciting applications of amorphous silicon are presented, including its use in solar cells, photo-sensors and liquid crystal displays. Amorphous Silicon will be of great interest to all those working in solid state physics or chemistry, materials science and electronic engineering, from postgraduate students to more experienced workers in these fields.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Japanese

From the Back Cover

Amorphous Silicon Kazunobu Tanaka National Institute for Advanced Interdisciplinary Research, Ibaraki, Japan Eiichi Maruyama Hitachi Ltd, Ibaraki, Japan Toshikazu Shimada Hitachi Ltd, Ibaraki, Japan Hiroaki Okamoto Osaka University, Osaka, Japan Translated by Takeshi Sato, National Institute for Advanced Interdisciplinary Research, Ibaraki, Japan Amorphous silicon has substantially different properties as compared to crystalline silicon. It has therefore become recognized as a fascinating and important material in its own right, with many interesting facets that lead to a range of novel and still developing applications. Amorphous Silicon introduces the reader to this field by first discussing what is meant by the amorphous state. It details the way in which amorphous silicon is prepared, and the growth mechanism. The main structural, optical and electronic properties are then covered in detail, and there is a full chapter on the structural stability of the material, including photoinduced effects. Finally, a number of the most exciting applications of amorphous silicon are presented, including its use in solar cells, photo-sensors and liquid crystal displays. Amorphous Silicon will be of great interest to all those working in solid state physics or chemistry, materials science and electronic engineering, from postgraduate students to more experienced workers in these fields.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 270 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (April 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471982938
• ISBN-13: 978-0471982937
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,907,469 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Huge Potential, January 22, 2004

By 

W Boudville (Terra, Sol 3) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Amorphous Silicon (Hardcover)

Why is amorphous silicon important? This book explains its significance in a variety of contexts. To the researcher interested in pure science, its properties are sufficiently different from crystalline or polycrystalline silicon to offer nontrivial studies.

But the greatest potential for amorphous silicon is in vast pervasive applications. Firstly, silicon is very common in the earth's crust, so applications that can make use of it can benefit from this. But, as the book makes clear, it is the expense of making pure crystalline silicon that has driven a lot of the research into amorphous silicon. Crystalline silicon is the base material in most semiconductor fabs. (The only major exception are the fabs that use GaAs. But those are for niche applications.) Amorphous silicon can be made by inherently cheaper means, like sputtering, and under far less stringent particulate contamination limits.

This motivates the book's discussion on the use of amorphous silicon in various contexts, like for solar cells. If the efficiency could be pushed sufficiently high, without a concomitant increase in the cost of manufacturing, then this could be a huge commercial field.

Interesting and challenging readings.