High electric field photocurrent of Vidicon and diode devices using wide band gap a-Si:H prepared with intentional control of silicon network by chemical annealing

Wide band gap amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) were prepared by a chemical annealing (CA) technique, in which intermittent hydrogen plasma treatment was repeated during the deposition of a-Si:H. Electronic transport in the wide band gap a-Si:H at high electric field was investigated systematically using devices with Vidicon-type or n–i–p diode structures. The Vidicon-type image pick-up tube exhibited the potential to produce high resolution images, demonstrating that the wide-gap a-Si:H prepared by the CA had superior properties suitable for imaging devices. The electric fields as high as >8×105 V cm−1 were applied successfully on the n–i–p devices using a-SiN:H for electron blocking contact. However, this electric field was not sufficient to invoke avalanche multiplication.