Amorphous solids are topologically disordered systems that have semiconducting behaviors. In contrast to crystalline semiconductors, the physical nature and theory of amorphous semiconductors are far from understood. Amorphous semiconductors are still a growing field and are in an early stage of development.
This book provides an introduction to amorphous semiconductors, including structural, electronic, and optical properties and their applications. The book comprises eight chapters and 286 pages. Chapter 1 introduces amorphous semiconductors. Chapter 2 illustrates techniques commonly used for growth of amorphous semiconductors, including a-Si:H films and amorphous chalcogenides. Chapter 3 is devoted to structural properties of a-Si:H films and amorphous chalcogenides, where both experimental measurements and computer simulations are involved. Chapter 4 discusses the electronic structure of several kinds of amorphous semiconductors. In chapters 5 and 6, the authors present the electronic and optical properties of amorphous silicon and amorphous chalcogenides, respectively. These two chapters are the main content of the book. The electronic and optical properties are related to the band structure, defects, and external actions, such as light irradiation, humidity, and temperature. Chapter 7 provides an overview of other amorphous materials, such as amorphous carbon and related materials, amorphous oxide semiconductors, and metal-containing amorphous chalcogenides. Chapter 8 discusses possible applications (e.g., displays and solar cells) of amorphous semiconductors, such as amorphous silicon and amorphous chalcogenides.
This book reflects the general current understanding of amorphous semiconductors and observations of the technological progress in the field. Several typical amorphous semiconductors are introduced. Amorphous oxide semiconductors (AOSs) have attracted more attention in recent years, with the potential for practical applications in transparent electronics and flexible electronics. The book would certainly be better if AOSs had been described in more detail.
The authors have put together a comprehensive set of structural, electronic, and optical properties of amorphous semiconductors. The contents have been organized and presented in a logical way. The figures and tables are useful to understand the materials, and the references are adequate and up to date. I recommend this book to postgraduate students, researchers, and technologists, especially those who are interested in microelectronics, photonics, and optoelectronics, as well as printed electronics, transparent electronics, and flexible electronics.
Reviewer: Jianguo Lu is an associate professor at Zhejiang University, China.
