Towards Extended Gate Field Effect Transistor-Based Radiation Sensors: Impact of Thicknesses and Radiation Doses on Al-Doped Zinc Oxide Sensitivity

Abstract

Radiation measurements are critical in radioanalytical, nuclear chemistry, and biomedical physics. Continuous advancement in developing economical, sensitive, and compact devices designed to detect and measure radiation has increased its capability in many applications. In this work, we presented and investigated the performance of a cost-effective X-ray radiation detector based on the extended gate field effect transistors (EGFET). We examined the sensitivity of Al-doped Zinc oxide (AZO) of varying thicknesses, fabricated by chemical bath deposition (CBD), following X-ray irradiation with low and high doses. EGFETs were used to connect samples for their detection capabilities. As a function of the absorbed dose, the response was analyzed based on the threshold voltage shift, and the sensitivity of each device was also evaluated. We demonstrated that thin films are less sensitive to radiation than their disk-type EG devices. However, performance aspects of the devices, such as radiation exposure sensitivity and active dosage region, were found to be significantly reliant on the composition and thickness of the materials used. These structures may be a cost-effective alternative for real-time, room-temperature radiation detectors.