The photosensitivity of amorphous-crystalline silicon heterostructures with an inversion channel

We investigate the effect of the resistivity of crystalline silicon (1.5–40 kΩ cm) and amorphousfilm thickness (200–2000 Å) on the photoelectric properties of (a-Si/c-Si) heterostructures based on high-resistance p-Si. The investigated heterostructures exhibit inversion surface-band bending in crystalline silicon. The presence of a conducting channel ensures accumulation of nonequilibrium carriers upon illumination of the areas separated from the electrode by distances that exceed by far their diffusion length. The heterostructures exhibit high photosensitivity, including in the UV spectral region. The spectral characteristics of such structures in the visible and near-IR regions are analogous to those of silicon tunnel MIS structures.