Pressure dependence of the electrical properties of amorphous phosphorus prepared by chemical transport in a low-pressure hydrogen plasma

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Abstract
The d.c. resistance of plasma-transported phosphorus has been measured up to pressures of 95 kbar. No pressure-induced crystallization was observed, in contrast to that observed in bulk amorphous red phosphorus. The resistance decreased with time at constant pressure and this is discussed in terms of relaxation of the glass structure. The behaviour of plasma-transported phosphorus is compared with other amorphous semiconductors and shown to be reminiscent of that of the chalcogenide glasses. The temperature dependence of the conductivity supports the notion that densification of a glass creates defect states in the gap, and this moves the conduction channel to the localized states at the Fermi level.