Defects Induced by High-Temperature Neutron Irradiation in 250 µm-Thick 4H-SiC p-n Junction Detector

Publication date: 22 Mag 2025

JournalSource: OPENALEXOpenAlex type: articleOpen Access
Authors: Alfio Samuele Mancuso, Enrico Sangregorio, A. Muoio, S. De Luca, M.H. Kushoro, Erik Gallo, Silvia Vanellone, Eleonora Quadrivi, Antonio Trotta, L. Calcagno, Francesco La Via

The objective of the proposed work was to investigate the electrical performance of a 250 µm-thick 4H-SiC p-n junction detector after irradiation with DT neutrons (14.1 MeV energy) at high temperature (500 °C). The results showed that the current–voltage (I-V) characteristics of the unirradiated SiC detector were ideal, with an ideality factor close to 1.5. A high electron mobility (µn) and built-in voltage (Vbi) were also observed. Additionally, the leakage current remained very low in the temperature range of 298–523 K. High-temperature irradiation caused a deviation from ideal behaviour, leading to an increase in the ideality factor, decreases in the µn and Vbi values, and a significant rise in the leakage current. Studying the capacitance–voltage (C-V) characteristics, it was observed that neutron irradiation induced reductions in both Al-doped (p+-type) and N-doped (n−-type) 4H-SiC carrier concentrations. A comprehensive investigation of the deep defect states and impurities was carried out using deep-level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) in the temperature range of 85–750 K. In particular, high-temperature neutron irradiation influenced the behaviours of both the Z1/2 and EH6/7 traps, which were related to carbon interstitials, silicon vacancies, or anti-site pairs.

Origin
Materials
Volume
18
Issue
11
Pages
2413
Cited by
6