Formation of bulk unipolar diodes in hydrogenated amorphous silicon by ion implantation

Bulk unipolar diodes with a wide range of barrier heights have been made in hydrogenated amorphous silicon by ion implantation. The precise concentration of dopant atoms that can be obtained when implanting into an amorphous substrate leads to accurate barrier height control. Compared with the alternative unipolar device, the Schottky diode, these devices should provide uniform, high barrier diodes for photodetectors, and very low barrier diodes for low-power, unbiased, mixers and detectors.