Abstract
Amorphous structure compared with crystalline one is in lack of the longrange orderness but still has the short-range orderness. This leads to the concept of “ bandtails ” in the energy gap state (developed by Mott) — the most relevant characteristics in the amorphous semiconductors.
Mechanisms of electrical conductivity, processes of high field conduction and of switching, optical absorption, photoconductive properties, photostructural change and photo-doping process in amorphous semiconductors are reviewed from the viewpoint of electronic band scheme. Applications of amorphous semiconductors to electronic devices, e.g., switching devices and memory cores, and to xerographic techniques are also reviewed.
