Spin-dependent photoconductivity in n-type and p-type amorphous silicon

It is found that, as in crystalline silicon, the photoconductivity in amorphous silicon prepared by glow discharge is strongly spin-dependent. In this material, the position of the Fermi level can be smoothly varied by phosphorous or boron doping and the magnitude of the spin-dependent recombination has been measured as a function of the doping: it is found to have a large maximum when the material is intrinsic. The similarities with the spin-dependent effects in crystalline and dislocation silicon suggest that the recombination process in amorphous silicon is the same as in the crystalline material and that dislocation-like centres are responsible for the spin-dependent recombination properties in both materials.