The Influence of Radiation Defects on the Charge Transport in SiC Nuclear Detectors in Conditions of Elevated Temperatures and Deep Compensation of the Conductivity

Abstract

P+–n–n+-detector structures based on CVD films with an uncompensated donor concentration of 2×1014 cm-3 have been studied. The p+-region was created by implantation of Al ions. Preliminarily, the detectors were irradiated with 8 MeV protons at a fluence of 3×1014 cm-2 and then annealed in a vacuum at 600°C for 1 h and 700°C for 1 h. Nuclear spectrometric techniques with 5.4 MeV a-particles were employed to test the detectors. In measurements performed in the temperature range 20–150°C, the forward- and reverse-bias modes were compared. It is shown that the annealing leads to a higher collection efficiency of carriers generated by nuclear radiation and to a decrease in the amount of charge accumulated by traps in the course of testing. Despite the positive effect of the annealing, there remains a considerable amount of radiation defects, which is manifested, in particular, in the kinetics of the forward current.