Chemistry professor Martin Gruebele led a group that directly observed two-state dynamics I nglassy silicon for the first time.
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. Using high-resolution imaging technology, University of Illinois researchers have answered a question that had confounded semiconductor researchers: Is amorphous silicon a glass? The answer? Yes - until hydrogen is added. Led by chemistry professor Martin Gruebele, the group published its results in the journal Physical Review Letters. Amorphous silicon (a-Si) is a semiconductor popular for many device applications because it is inexpensive and can be created in a flexible thin film, unlike the rigid, brittle crystalline form of silicon. But the material has its own unusual qualities: It seems to have some characteristics of glass, but cannot be made the way other glasses are. Most glasses are made by rapidly cooling a melted material so that it hardens in a random structure. But cooling liquid silicon simply results in an orderly crystal structure.
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