Defect characterization and charge transport measurements in high-resolution Ni/n-4H-SiC Schottky barrier radiation detectors fabricated on 250 μ m epitaxial layers

Kleppinger, Joshua W.; Chaudhuri, Sandeep K.; Karadavut, OmerFaruk; Mandal, Krishna C.

doi:10.1063/5.0049218

Defect characterization and charge transport measurements in high-resolution Ni/n-4H-SiC Schottky barrier radiation detectors fabricated on 250 μ m epitaxial layers

Journal Article · Mon Jun 28 00:00:00 EDT 2021 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0049218· OSTI ID:1850520

Kleppinger, Joshua W. ^[1]; ^[2]; Karadavut, OmerFaruk ^[2]; ^[2]

Univ. of South Carolina, Columbia, SC (United States). Dept. of Electrical Engineering; Univ. of South Carolina, Columbia, SC (United States)
Univ. of South Carolina, Columbia, SC (United States). Dept. of Electrical Engineering

Advances in the growth processes of 4H-SiC epitaxial layers have led to the continued expansion of epilayer thickness, allowing for the detection of more penetrative radioactive particles. In this work, we report the fabrication and characterization of high-resolution Schottky barrier radiation detectors on 250 μm thick n-type 4H-SiC epitaxial layers, the highest reported thickness to date. Several 8 × 8 mm² detectors were fabricated from a diced 100 mm diameter 4H-SiC epitaxial wafer grown on a conductive 4H-SiC substrate with a mean micropipe density of 0.11 cm^-2 From the Mott–Schottky plots, the effective doping concentration was found to be in the range (0.95–1.85) × 10¹⁴ cm^-3, implying that full depletion could be achieved at ~5.7 kV (0.5 MV/cm at the interface). The current-voltage characteristics demonstrated consistently low leakage current densities of 1–3 nA/cm² at a reverse bias of -800 V. This resulted in the pulse-height spectra generated using a 241Am alpha source (5486 keV) manifesting an energy resolution of less than 0.5% full width at half maximum (FWHM) for all the detectors at -200 V. The charge collection efficiencies (CCEs) were measured to be 98–99% with no discernable correlation to the energy resolution. A drift-diffusion model fit to the variation of CCE as a function of bias voltage, revealed a minority carrier diffusion length of ~10 μm. Deep level transient spectroscopy measurements on the best resolution detector revealed that the excellent performance was the result of having ultralow concentrations of the order of 1011 cm-3 lifetime limiting defects—Z_1/2 and EH_6/7.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: UT-Battelle LLC/ORNL, Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Univ. of South Carolina, Columbia, SC (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE); University of South Carolina

Grant/Contract Number:: AC07-05ID14517; NE0008662

OSTI ID:: 1850520

Journal Information:: Journal of Applied Physics, Journal Name: Journal of Applied Physics Journal Issue: 24 Vol. 129; ISSN 0021-8979

Publisher:: American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Defect characterization and charge transport measurements in high-resolution Ni/n-4H-SiC Schottky barrier radiation detectors fabricated on 250 μ m epitaxial layers

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