Anomalous DC dark conductivity behaviour in a-Se films

Thin films of amorphous selenium have been prepared by thermal evaporation. DC conductivity measurements were carried out on these films in the temperature range between 208 and 322 deg. K. Above room temperature, the dark conductivity is thermally activated with activation energy Eσ 1.05 ± 0.08 eV. For temperatures below 285 deg. K, an increase in the dark current is observed, which is interpreted in terms of a shift of the Fermi level that makes more states available for a hopping process. (letter to the editor)