Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 March 2011
Transverse charge collection in a p-i-n structure based on microcrystalline silicon and lateral transport in a single intrinsic layer were analyzed using transient photoconductivity (TPC), steady-state photocarrier grating analysis (SSPG), and the flying spot technique (FST). Photocurrents were excited either with HeNe laser light (633 nm, intensity about 20 mW/cm2) or with 5 ns pulses from a Nd:YAG laser (532 nm, peak power of about 500 kW/cm2 with 5 mJ pulses). The response time τR varied greatly from about 3 ms at low intensity down to a few μs under pulsed laser excitation. The minority carrier diffusion length L D measured by FST in diode structures was usually larger than values obtained from the SSPG method applied to intrinsic microcrystalline layers.