AbstractThin (<1000 Å) hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon films are widely used in solar cells, light emitting diodes, and spatial light modulators. In this work the conductivity of doped and undoped amorphous-nanocrystalline silicon thin films is studied as a function of film thickness: a giant anisotropy of conductivity is established. The longitudinal conductivity decreases dramatically (by a factor of 109 − 1010) as the layer thickness is reduced from 1500 Å to 200 Å, while the transverse conductivity remains close to that of a doped a- Si:H. The data obtained are interpreted in terms of the percolation theory.
