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Amorphous and Microcrystalline SiC as New Synthetic Wide Gap Semiconductors

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Abstract

A review is given on recent progress in amorphous and microcrystalline silicon-carbide (a-SiC, μc-SiC) semiconductors and their technological applications to optoelectronic functional devices. Firstly, some significant properties in this alloy as a new synthetic material are pointed out with recent advances of thin film technologies, such as plasma CVD, ECR-CVD and ion-beam CVD etc. There exists an energy gap controllability from 1.7eV to 3.6 eV with retaining the valency electron control from n-type through i- to p-type semiconductors. While its conductivity can also be controlled more than ten order of magnitudes, e.g., from 10-9to 102 Scm-1 by controlling the impurity doping and preparation conditions.

Secondly, a series of technical data on the electronic and optoelectronic properties of a-Si1-x,Cx and μc-SiC are demonstrated from recent achievements. In the final part of the paper, current state of the art in the field of optoelectronic applications from live technologies on amorphous silicon solar cells. a-SiC visible light LED and EL devices are reviewed. A technological evolution from "microelectronics" to "macroelectronlcs" will be discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of engineering Science, Osaka University, Toyonaka, Osaka, Japan, 560. p[USA

    Y. Hamakawa & H. Okamoto

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  1. Y. Hamakawa
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  2. H. Okamoto
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Hamakawa, Y., Okamoto, H. Amorphous and Microcrystalline SiC as New Synthetic Wide Gap Semiconductors. MRS Online Proceedings Library 242, 651–662 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1557/PROC-242-651

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