Semiconductors for large area electron device applications: materials issues and devices implications

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Since the dawn of the electronics era, progress in electronics has primarily been achieved through a reduction in device dimensions. There is, however, a certain class of electronic device that requires size in order to be useful. Displays, scanners, solar cells, and x-ray image detectors are all examples of large area electronic devices. While in conventional electronics the emphasis may be presently on sub-micron device features, in large area electronics the focus instead is on electronic devices fabricated over substrates with dimensions of the order of a square meter. As crystalline silicon cannot be uniformly and inexpensively deposited over large areas, alternate electronic materials must be employed instead for large area electronic device applications. Amorphous and polycrystalline (disordered) semiconductors, such as hydrogenated amorphous silicon, have emerged as the active electronic materials of choice for many such applications.