The influence of the distribution of potential fluctuations on the distribution of states in amorphous semiconductors

Abstract

Using a simplified but representative model for the physical structure of an amorphous semiconductor, we examine the corresponding distribution of potential fluctuations. We demonstrate that substantial deviations from a Gaussian distribution of potential fluctuations occur for reasonable parameter selections. We then use a semiclassical approach to study how the distribution of states is shaped by this distribution of potential fluctuations. We find that while the distribution of tail states is relatively heavily influenced by the distribution of potential fluctuations, the distribution of band states is not.