Evidence of equilibrium native defect populations in amorphous chalcogenides from analyses of xerographic spectra

Abstract

Abstract By exploiting the extraordinary sensitivity of xerographic spectroscopy, it has become possible to resolve clearly changes in the density of deep defects (hole and electron traps) during isothermal relaxation of the glass structure of selenium and selenium-rich Se: Te: As alloy films. This physical ageing behaviour demonstrates directly an intimate connection between defect population and the structural state of the defect-containing glassy film. The energy distribution of these defects (traps) has been xerographically mapped and found to remain invariant during relaxation while the integrated number of defects varies systematically with annealing temperature, T A. Isothermal relaxation toward a stable but temperature-dependent defect population can be readily observed during annealing of a-Se at T A when T g - T A is not too large.