Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.

Sango Electric Co., Ltd.

Masayuki Iwamoto

Koji Minami

Toshihiko Yamaoki

Kaneo Watanabe

Kouji Minami

Kenichiro Wakisaka

Yukinori Kuwano

Shoichi Nakano

Takeo Fukatsu

Masaru Takeuchi

An amorphous silicon film contains not less than 30 at. % hydrogen and includes silicon atoms joined with one hydrogen atom and silicon atoms joined with two hydrogen atoms, the ratio of the silicon atoms joined with two hydrogen atoms to the silicon atoms joined with one hydrogen atom being not more than 0.4. This amorphous silicon films is produced by performing plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition at a substrate temperature of not more than 100.degree. C., while supplying hydrogen and silane in the predetermined ratio, the ratio of the flow of hydrogen to that of silane being not less than 1.

Amorphous silicon film, its production and photo semiconductor device

A photovoltaic device, wherein a non-crystalline semiconductor layer of one conductivity type formed on a single crystal or a polycrystalline semiconductor substrate of the opposite conductivity type is annealed thereby to change the non-crystalline semiconductor to a polycrystalline semiconductor, with a pn junction plane formed therebetween. The depth of the junction plane is 500 .ANG. or less from the light incident surface of the polycrystallized semiconductor. Moreover, the light incidence surface can be made uneven by increasing the growth rate of the non-crystalline semiconductor.

Photovoltaic device and manufacturing method therefor

A thin film transistor includes a glass substrate on a surface of which a hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) film is formed. On the a-Si:H film, a source electrode and a drain electrode are respectively formed with a suitable interval between them. A gate electrode is formed positioned between the source electrode and the drain electrode. Insulation film is interposed between the gate electrode and the a-Si:H film. In a direct photo-CVD method using a low pressure mercury lamp, bandtail characteristics energy of the a-Si:H film is made less than 40 meV by controlling a decomposition region of a reaction gas, that is, the distance between the glass substrate and a gas supply port, whereby a thin film transistor having a good response is obtainable.

Thin film transistor with 10-15% hydrogen content

A photovoltaic device capable of obtaining a high open circuit voltage, in which crystallization of a semiconductor is accelerated from the first stage of formation thereof such that a thin layer of the semiconductor is crystallized, by doping an electrode disposed between the semiconductor and a substrate with an element which reacts with an element in the semiconductor to accelerate crystallization of the semiconductor or by disposing a film made from a compound doped with said element between the semiconductor and the substrate.

Photovoltaic device

A photovoltaic device has a crystalline layer of a first conductivity type formed of crystalline silicon semiconductor material, an amorphous layer of an opposite conductivity type formed of amorphous silicon semiconductor material, and a microcrystalline layer formed of substantially intrinsic microcrystalline silicon semiconductor material provided between the crystalline layer and the amorphous layer.

An electrostatic recording apparatus includes a photosensitive drum which is charged at +700 V by a first charger. Intensity of the light emitted from an LED array that is downstream from the first charger is adjusted such that a light image having strong intensity and/or a light image having weak intensity can be irradiated to the photosensitive drum. A surface voltage of a portion where the light image having weak intensity is irradiated becomes +400 V. A surface voltage of a portion where the light image having strong intensity is irradiated becomes +100 V. The photosensitive drum is charged at -400 V in the reverse polarity opposite to that of the first charger by a second charger which is arranged downstream from the LED array. As a result, electrostatic latent images of three gradations having voltages of +300 V, 0 V and -300 V respectively are formed on the photosensitive drum. The electrostatic latent images of +300 V and -300 V are respectively developed by developers with a black toner being charged in the negative polarity (-) a red toner being charged in the positive polarity (+).

Electrostatic recording apparatus and method for producing color images

A recording head comprises a magnetically permeable substrate, a superconducting film formed on one side of said substrate, a means for producing a uniform magnetic field sustantially perpendicular to a surface of the superconducting film, and a means for locally destroying the superconductivity of the superconducting film so as to produce a pattern of normal conducting portions in the area of the superconducting film where the magnetic field is applied. A recording device comprises a recording head for producing a pattern of a magnetic field on a recording medium, a toner supply unit arranged in face-to-face relationship with the recording head at a spaced short distance from the head to form a visible pattern of magnetic toners on the recording medium, and a fixing unit for fixing the magnetic toners on the recording medium to complete a record. When electric signals are applied to the recording head, the superconducting film is locally changed from the superconducting state into the normal conducting state so that the magnetic field applied to the film may penetrate through normal conducting portions of the film to produce a magnetic pattern on the recording medium. Almost simultaneously with the formation of the magnetic dot pattern, a visible powder pattern is directly formed on the recording sheet, and then fixed on thereon by fusion.

Recording head and its application

A photovoltaic device comprises a photoactive layer for generating carriers when light is applied thereto, and a window layer containing at least silicon and hydrogen and provided on the light incidence side of the photoactive layer. Hydrogen concentration in the window layer is higher in the layer's light incidence side than in the side facing the photoactive layer. Thus, the light incidence side of the window layer has a rough surface.

The present invention relates to a photovoltaic device using hydrogenated amorphous silicon as a photoactive layer, wherein the ratio of the number of silicon atoms bonded to hydrogen atoms to the total number of silicon atoms (expressed as a percentage) is 1% or less and the density of dangling bonds is 1.times.10.sup.17 cm.sup.-3 or less. Accordingly, the device of the present invention has the following advantages: the cost can be reduced by forming a thinner layer, the area of the photo-active layer can be increased, the efficiency of photo-electric conversion is improved, and photo-deterioration is reduced.

An electrostatic recording apparatus comprises a photosensitive drum. The photosensitive drum comprises a bulk layer of amorphous silicon formed on a support, and in the bulk layer, a first layer region is formed at the support side and a second layer region is formed at the surface side. The first layer region is formed in a manner of comprising hydrogen of 0.01-40 atomic %, oxygen of 0.1-40 atomic % and boron of 5.times.10.sup.-6 -1.0 atomic %. On the other hand, oxygen and boron are not doped virtually in the second layer region and generation of carrier traps is suppressed in this non-doped second layer region. Furthermore, the peak wavelengths of the lights irradiated onto the photosensitive drum from both a light source for exposure and light source for discharge are set shorter than 650 nm, and preferably shorter than 600 nm. Light of short wavelengths shorter than 650 nm is almost absorbed in the second layer region, and generation of carriers in the first layer region is small, and thereby capture of carriers in traps is suppressed.

Electrostatic recording apparatus

A photovoltaic device comprises a semiconductor layer of hydrogenated amorphous silicon for photoelectric conversion, in which the proportion of silicon atoms bonded to two hydrogen atoms to all the silicon atoms is not more than 1%.

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Itami, Japan

Masayuki Iwamoto