Far Infrared Absorption by Tetrahedrally Bonded Amorphous Semiconductors

Abstract

A discussion of the electronic structure of amorphous semiconductors is given and the ideas are developed for the case of the tetrahedrally bonded elements silicon and germanium. This background is used to interpret far infrared conductivity data taken in our laboratory. The results suggest that the void structure in these materials plays a central role in the photon-vibration coupling, particularly at low frequencies.