Chapter 16 - Electronic conduction

Abstract

The exploitation of the electronic conductivity property of many glasses is one of the most important high-tech developments of the past several decades. This is the first area of glass science for which a Nobel Prize has been awarded. Electronic conduction is responsible for the photoconductivity property of Se and As-Se glasses, which have been the heart of the photocopying process. Some electronically conducting glasses display switching behavior between insulator and semiconductor states, which are utilized in computer memory devices. Electronic conduction in amorphous hydrogenated silicon (written as a-Si:H) and its alloys is responsible for its photovoltaic behavior, the basis of solar cell technology. The need to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels as the source of energy will only enhance our efforts in this direction. Electronic conductivity implies conduction of electrical charge by either electrons (negatively charged) or electron holes (positively charged). In comparison to the usually high electronic conductivity in metals, the electronic conductivity in glasses is orders of magnitude smaller.