Silicon Carbide Power Diodes as Radiation Detectors

2006 ◽  
pp. 1465-1468
Author(s):  
Bernard F. Phlips ◽  
Karl D. Hobart ◽  
Francis J. Kub ◽  
Robert E. Stahlbush ◽  
Mrinal K. Das ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Silicon Carbide ◽  
Radiation Detectors ◽  
Power Diodes

Silicon Carbide Power Diodes as Radiation Detectors

2006 ◽  
Vol 527-529 ◽  
pp. 1465-1468 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernard F. Phlips ◽  
Karl D. Hobart ◽  
Francis J. Kub ◽  
Robert E. Stahlbush ◽  
Mrinal K. Das ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Silicon Carbide ◽  
Energy Resolution ◽  
Particle Physics ◽  
Nuclear Physics ◽  
Radiation Detection ◽  
Radiation Detectors ◽  
Significant Loss ◽  
X Rays ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Power Diodes

We have tested the radiation detection performance of Silicon Carbide (SiC) PIN diodes originally developed as high power diodes. These devices consist of 100 micron thick SiC grown epitaxially on SiC substrates. The size and thickness of the devices make them appropriate for a number of radiation detection applications. We tested 0.25 cm2 and 0.5 cm2 devices and obtained X-ray spectra under illumination with an Am-241 radioactive source. The spectra showed an energy resolution that was consistent with the resolution expected for the large capacitance of the device. Smaller devices with a diameter of 1 mm were also tested and produced spectra with a room temperature energy resolution of ~550 eV, which is consistent with the electronics limit for the capacitance of the small device. We measured the absolute charge generated by X-rays per KeV in SiC by comparing the charge generation with similar silicon devices and determined the energy required per electron hole pair in SiC to be 8.4 eV. We also performed radiation damage tests on these devices and found no significant loss in charge collection up to a photon dose of 100 MRad. Applications for these devices can be found in the fields of particle physics, nuclear physics, nuclear medicine, X-ray fluorescence, X-ray astronomy and X-ray navigation.

Diffusion Length in n-Doped 4H Silicon Carbide Crystals Detected by Alpha Particle Probe

2009 ◽  
Vol 615-617 ◽  
pp. 857-860
Author(s):  
Donatella Puglisi ◽  
Gaetano Foti ◽  
Giuseppe Bertuccio
Keyword(s):  
Silicon Carbide ◽  
Doping Concentration ◽  
Diffusion Length ◽  
Schottky Diodes ◽  
Radiation Detectors ◽  
Electron Hole ◽  
Active Volume ◽  
Particle Detectors ◽  
Electron Hole Pair ◽  
Nuclear Detectors

The achievement of nuclear detectors in Silicon Carbide imposes severe constraints on the electronic quality and thickness of the material due to the relatively high value of the energy required to generate an electron-hole pair (7.8 eV) in this material compared to the value for Si (3.6 eV). In this work, 4H-SiC charged particle detectors were realised using epitaxial layers of n-type doping as active region. The thickness of the epilayer is always below 80 μm with a net doping concentration in the range of 8 x 1013 to 1016 cm-3. These properties allowed the fabrication of Schottky diodes that operate well as radiation detectors. At low doping concentration, the epilayer is totally depleted at quite low reverse bias (≈ 50 V), thereby obtaining the maximum active volume.

Silicon Carbide Radiation Detectors: Progress, Limitations and Future Directions

2013 ◽  
Vol 1576 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank H. Ruddy
Keyword(s):  
Silicon Carbide ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Chemical Vapor ◽  
Radiation Detectors ◽  
Neutron Detectors ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Materials Development ◽  
Late Twentieth ◽  
Manufacturing Techniques ◽  
Further Development

ABSTRACTSilicon carbide has long been a promising material for semiconductor applications in high-temperature environments. Although silicon carbide radiation detectors were demonstrated more than a half century ago, the unavailability of high-quality materials and device manufacturing techniques hindered further development until about twenty years ago. In the late twentieth century, the development of advanced SiC crystal growth and epitaxial chemical vapor deposition methods spurred rapid development of silicon carbide charged particle, X-ray and neutron detectors. The history and status of silicon carbide radiation detectors as well as the influence of materials and device packaging limitations on future detector development will be discussed. Specific silicon carbide materials development needs will be identified.

Characterization of Semi-Insulating 4H Silicon Carbide for Radiation Detectors

2011 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 1992-1999 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krishna C. Mandal ◽  
Ramesh M. Krishna ◽  
Peter G. Muzykov ◽  
Sandip Das ◽  
Tangali S. Sudarshan
Keyword(s):  
Silicon Carbide ◽  
Radiation Detectors

scholarly journals Silicon Carbide Microstrip Radiation Detectors

Micromachines ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 835 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donatella Puglisi ◽  
Giuseppe Bertuccio
Keyword(s):  
Silicon Carbide ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Radiation Detector ◽  
Radiation Detectors ◽  
Wide Bandgap ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Position Sensitive ◽  
Silicon And Germanium ◽  
Full Depletion ◽  
Prototype Detector

Compared with the most commonly used silicon and germanium, which need to work at cryogenic or low temperatures to decrease their noise levels, wide-bandgap compound semiconductors such as silicon carbide allow the operation of radiation detectors at room temperature, with high performance, and without the use of any bulky and expensive cooling equipment. In this work, we investigated the electrical and spectroscopic performance of an innovative position-sensitive semiconductor radiation detector in epitaxial 4H-SiC. The full depletion of the epitaxial layer (124 µm, 5.2 × 1013 cm−3) was reached by biasing the detector up to 600 V. For comparison, two different microstrip detectors were fully characterized from −20 °C to +107 °C. The obtained results show that our prototype detector is suitable for high resolution X-ray spectroscopy with imaging capability in a wide range of operating temperatures.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document