On the variation of hopping transport in amorphous silicon with preparation conditions

Thedc conductivity of amorphous silicon prepared by two successive ion bombardments at different temperatures has been measured as a function of temperature. The results may be expressed in terms of a generalized hopping formula =₀ exp –(T ₀/T) ⁿ where the parameter set {n,T ₀, ₀} varies with the irradiation conditions. In particular, the hopping exponent has been found to assume the limiting values ofn1/4 at irradiation temperatures ofT _i100 K and ofn1/2 atT _i500 K, whereas intermediate values ofn have been observed for temperatures inbetween. It is concluded that thermally activated redistribution processes of radiation defects control the final state of disorder in the irradiated samples, which in turn determines the particular hopping characteristics. Within the framework of existing theories the two limiting cases can be explained to be due to a disordered solid of homogeneous and granular structure, respectively.