Abstract
The transport‐simulation computer program a m p s has been used to explore the origin and behavior of dark leakage currents in hydrogenated amorphous silicon pin detector structures. A comparison of simulated and experimental data reveals that the experimentally observed voltage dependence of the reverse bias current‐voltage characteristics can be explained by a varying defect density through the i layer, due either to dopant permeation or to Fermi‐level‐driven defect densities, as well as by the previously suggested field‐enhanced generation. a m p s simulations indicate that the dependence of these reverse leakage currents on i‐layer thickness would be useful in determining the relative importance of each possible mechanism.