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Utilization of Photoconductive Gain in a-Si:H Devices for Radiation Detection

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2011

H. K. Lee
Affiliation:
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720
J. S. Drewery
Affiliation:
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720
W. S. Hone
Affiliation:
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720
T. Jing
Affiliation:
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720
S. N. Kaplan
Affiliation:
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720
V. Perez-Mendez
Affiliation:
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720
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Abstract

The photoconductive gain mechanism in a-Si:H was investigated in connection with applications to radiation detection. Various device types such as p-i-n, n-i-n and n-i-p-i-n structures were fabricated and tested. Photoconductive gain was measured in two time scales: one for short pulses of visible light (< 1 μsec) which simulates the transit of an energetic charged particle, and the other for rather long pulses of light (1 msec) which simulates x-ray exposure in medical imaging. We used two definitions of photoconductive gain: current gain and charge gain which is an integration of the current gain. We found typical charge gains of 3 ∼ 9 for short pulses and a few hundred for long pulses at a dark current level of 10 mA/cm2. Various gain results are discussed in terms of the device structure, applied bias and dark current.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1995

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References

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