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Avalanche‐like electric‐field‐induced photocurrent gain in resonant tunneling hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon system
Author(s) -
Chen Jing,
Lu Jia Jia,
Zhang Rong,
Liu Yong Sheng,
Shen Wen Zhong
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
physica status solidi (b)
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.51
H-Index - 109
eISSN - 1521-3951
pISSN - 0370-1972
DOI - 10.1002/pssb.201046596
Subject(s) - photocurrent , electric field , materials science , nanocrystalline material , quantum tunnelling , silicon , optoelectronics , photoconductivity , nanocrystalline silicon , condensed matter physics , nanotechnology , crystalline silicon , physics , quantum mechanics , amorphous silicon
By introducing photogeneration into the rate equation of the two‐energy‐level system, we obtain the photocurrent gain effect theoretically in hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon (nc‐Si:H) structure, which is consistent with the reported experimental data. To understand the carrier‐transport characteristics in such nanostructures, the time‐dependent distributions of the electric field and photocurrent inside nc‐Si:H structure at different absorption coefficients have been calculated. The result shows that the occurrence of photocurrent enhancement is accompanied by an avalanche‐like phenomenon of the electric field during its dynamic process to achieve equilibrium. Further investigation reveals that the physical nature behind this photocurrent gain lies in the existence of the resonant tunneling inside the nc‐Si:H structure.