Abstract
Silicon layers which generate a photovoltaic voltage of up to 150 V/cm at room temperature are obtained by evaporation in a vacuum onto an insulating substrate. The spectral characteristics of the voltage, the effect of thermal processing on the value of the voltage and on the resistance of the layers, and the dependence of the voltage on the direction of the illumination and on the structure of the photosensitive layers are investigated. It is concluded that the photosensitive layers of silicon possess a microcrystalline structure with an ordered arrangement of the small crystals, separated by high-resistance oxide-type layers, and are sources of elementary photovoltaic voltages which are added along the layer. It is suggested that the reason for the formation of the elementary photovoltaic voltages is the separation of electron-hole pairs, produced by the light, by the field of the barriers which exist on the surfaces of the individual crystals of the layer and in the gaps between the crystals.
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The authors thank M. A. Rumsha for help with the electron diffraction investigations and for useful discussions, and also M. I. Rudenok for making the electron microscope investigations.
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Konorov, P.P., Danil'chenko, V.G. & Khergenkhan, K. High-voltage photovoltaic effect in layers of silicon evaporated in vacuum. Soviet Physics Journal 11, 65–69 (1968). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00822470
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00822470