Abstract: The present invention is a photoconductive member which includes a layer of amorphous semiconductor, adjacent to a multilayered amorphous semiconductor material, the composite material sandwiched between two blocking layers. The entire structure is supported by a layer of metal or glass depending on whether the photoconductive member is used in electrophotography or in an image pickup tube.

Abstract: An amorphous silicon photovoltaic device having enhanced photovoltage and increased longevity is produced by treatment of a barrier forming region of the amorphous silicon in the presence of a partial pressure of sulfur dioxide.

Abstract: An amorphous silicon semiconductor having a gradient doping profile is produced by thermo-electrically diffusing an ionizable deposit material such as antimony or aluminum, for example, into the amorphous silicon layer. Embodied in a photovoltaic device, the gradient doping profile increases the width of the depletion or barrier region and concurrently ensures an ohmic contact between amorphous silicon and current carrying electrodes.

Abstract: A Schottky barrier amorphous silicon solar cell incorporating a thin highly doped p-type region of hydrogenated amorphous silicon disposed between a Schottky barrier high work function metal and the intrinsic region of hydrogenated amorphous silicon wherein said high work function metal and said thin highly doped p-type region forms a surface barrier junction with the intrinsic amorphous silicon layer. The thickness and concentration of p-type dopants in said p-type region are selected so that said p-type region is fully ionized by the Schottky barrier high work function metal. The thin highly doped p-type region has been found to increase the open circuit voltage and current of the photovoltaic device.

Abstract: A photoconductor body for a camera tube includes a semiconductor body including an overlayer of a material selected from a granular metal-insulator system. Suitable semiconductor materials are limited to those materials capable of providing Schottky barrier heights in excess of 0.9 eV. when fabricated with such overlayers and those having bandgaps greater than about 1.4 eV. A method of fabricating such photoconductive bodies is disclosed wherein a cadmium selenide semiconductor material is thermally treated to modify the Schottky barrier heights to a desired value in excess of about 0.9 eV.

Abstract: A first layer of semiconductor device is of doped amorphous silicon prepared by a glow discharge in a mixture of silane and a doping gas. The first layer is on a substrate having good electrical properties. On the first layer and spaced from the substrate is a second layer of amorphous silicon prepared by a glow discharge in silane. On the second layer opposite the first layer is a metallic film forming a surface barrier junction therebetween, i.e. a Schottky barrier. The first layer is doped so as to make an ohmic contact with the substrate. Preferably the doping concentration of the first layer is graded so the dopant concentration is maximum at the interface of the first layer and the substrate. In a second embodiment of the Schottky barrier semiconductor device an intermediate layer is between and contiguous to both the first layer and the substrate. The intermediate layer facilitates in making ohmic contact between the amorphous silicon and the substrate.

Abstract: In a photovoltaic semiconductor device, an electrically insulating layer is between and in contact with a body of amorphous silicon fabricated by a glow discharge in silane and a metallic film of a metal capable of forming a surface barrier junction with the amorphous silicon body. The insulating layer is of such a relatively thin thickness that charge carriers are capable of tunneling through the insulating layer. The insulating layer has been found to increase the open circuit voltage of the photovoltaic device without adversely affecting the short circuit current density of the device.