Noncrystalline semiconductors

OCT 01, 1984

New materials free of the constraints of long‐range periodic order have applications ranging from optical memory disks and photovoltaic cells to diffraction gratings and x‐ray lenses.

DOI: 10.1063/1.2915913

Hellmut Fritzsche

After rapid growth over the past 15 years, research on noncrystalline semiconductors is now one of the most active and exciting areas in condensed‐matter physics. Technological interest has always been an important stimulant for fundamental materials research, and work on noncrystalline semiconductors is no exception. The field is active because the unique properties of these new semiconductors, together with techniques for spreading thin films over large areas, open many new possibilities for applications. Among the noncrystalline semiconductor devices at one or another stage of research or development are optical memory disks with extremely high information density, large‐area electronic circuits on thin flexible substrates, faster and more durable photoreceptor drums for xerographic copying machines, x‐ray lenses, holograms and inexpensive photovoltaic cells, just to mention a few

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More about the Authors

Hellmut Fritzsche. University of Chicago.