Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Investigating the Effects of Individual Neutron-Induced Defects in Bipolar Junction Transistors

Journal Article · · IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science

Here, this study investigates neutron-induced displacement damage in Bipolar Junction Transistors (BJTs) using TCAD models informed by Deep-Level-Transient-Spectroscopy (DLTS) data. These models are calibrated and validated against experimental measurements performed at various neutron fluences. Both npn and pnp transistor configurations are studied to analyze the effects of individual traps on carrier recombination and base leakage currents. In npn transistors, deep traps (0.42 eV from the conduction band) dominate at low voltages, while shallow traps (0.17 eV from the conduction band) become prominent at higher voltages. Conversely, pnp transistors have base leakage current predominantly due to deep-level traps. The study observes a notable trend in trap density versus fluence, characterized by a linear relationship on a log-log scale. These insights into defect evolution under radiation conditions are crucial for optimizing semiconductor device reliability and performance in radiation-prone environments.

Research Organization:
Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR); USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
Grant/Contract Number:
NA0003525
OSTI ID:
2517901
Report Number(s):
SAND--2025-01752J
Journal Information:
IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science, Journal Name: IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 72; ISSN 0018-9499
Publisher:
IEEECopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (42)

A proposed method of calculating displacement dose rates journal August 1975
Unified apparent bandgap narrowing in n- and p-type silicon journal February 1992
Neutron induced defects in silicon detectors characterized by DLTS and TSC methods
  • Fretwurst, E.; Dehn, C.; Feick, H.
  • Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 377, Issue 2-3 https://doi.org/10.1016/0168-9002(95)01405-5
journal August 1996
Defect generation in crystalline silicon irradiated with high energy particles journal January 2002
Investigation of damage-induced defects in silicon by TCT
  • Fretwurst, E.; Eremin, V.; Feick, H.
  • Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 388, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0168-9002(97)00002-8
journal April 1997
Systematic investigation of monolithic bipolar transistors irradiated with neutrons, heavy ions and electrons for space applications
  • Consolandi, C.; D’Angelo, P.; Fallica, G.
  • Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms, Vol. 252, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nimb.2006.08.018
journal November 2006
Modeling fast-transient defect evolution and carrier recombination in pulse-neutron-irradiated Si devices journal December 2007
Effects of defect clustering in neutron irradiated silicon journal December 2007
Deep‐level transient spectroscopy: A new method to characterize traps in semiconductors journal July 1974
Defect-driven gain bistability in neutron damaged, silicon bipolar transistors journal April 2007
Effects of clustering on the properties of defects in neutron irradiated silicon journal August 2007
Model of defect reactions and the influence of clustering in pulse-neutron-irradiated Si journal August 2008
A bistable divacancylike defect in silicon damage cascades journal October 2008
Deep-level-transient spectroscopy: System effects and data analysis journal August 1979
Defect annealing in neutron and ion damaged silicon: Influence of defect clusters and doping journal March 2010
Analytic band-to-trap tunneling model including band offset for heterojunction devices journal February 2019
Particle interaction and displacement damage in silicon devices operated in radiation environments journal March 2007
Vacancy-related complexes in neutron-irradiated silicon journal May 2005
Computer simulation of atomic-displacement cascades in solids in the binary-collision approximation journal June 1974
Damage correlations in semiconductors exposed to gamma, electron and proton radiations journal January 1993
Enhanced displacement damage effectiveness in irradiated silicon devices journal December 1989
Damage mechanisms in radiation-tolerant amorphous silicon solar cells journal December 1998
Universal damage factor for radiation-induced dark current in silicon devices journal December 2000
Radiation effects on microelectronics in space journal January 1988
Stable-Damage Comparisons for Neutron-Irradiated Silicon journal January 1973
Neutron Damage Mechanisms in Charge Transfer Devices journal January 1978
Transient and Permanent Effects of Neutron Bombardment on a Commercially Available N-Buried-Channel CCD journal January 1980
Average Silicon Neutron Displacement Kerma Factor at 1 MeV journal February 1982
Permanent Damage Produced by Single Proton Interactions in Silicon Devices journal January 1986
Review of displacement damage effects in silicon devices journal June 2003
Modeling of proton-induced CCD degradation in the Chandra X-ray Observatory journal December 2003
A Framework for Understanding Displacement Damage Mechanisms in Irradiated Silicon Devices journal December 2006
Amorphous Inclusions in Irradiated Silicon and Their Effects on Material and Device Properties journal December 2008
Radiation Effects and Annealing Studies on Amorphous Silicon Solar Cells journal December 2009
Displacement Damage Effects in Irradiated Semiconductor Devices journal June 2013
Displacement Damage in Silicon Detectors for High Energy Physics journal August 2018
Multiscale Modeling of Total Ionizing Dose Effects in Commercial-off-the-Shelf Parts in Bipolar Technologies journal January 2019
Neutron Displacement Damage in Bipolar Junction Transistors Isolated From an Integrated Circuit journal April 2024
DLTS Studies of Neutron Camage in P-Type Silicon journal January 1982
Displacement Damage in Bipolar Junction Transistors: Beyond Messenger-Spratt journal January 2017
Studies of Neutron-Produced Defects in Silicon by Deep-Level Transient Spectroscopy journal February 1979
14 MeV DT Neutron Test Facility at the Sandia Ion Beam Laboratory report September 2019

Similar Records

Low-Frequency Noise and Deep Level Transient Spectroscopy in n-p-n Si Bipolar Junction Transistors Irradiated with Si Ions
Journal Article · Sun Dec 24 23:00:00 EST 2023 · IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science · OSTI ID:2320338

Single-event burnout of epitaxial bipolar transistors
Journal Article · Mon Nov 30 23:00:00 EST 1998 · IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science · OSTI ID:323929

Hardness-assurance issues for lateral PNP bipolar junction transistors
Journal Article · Thu Nov 30 23:00:00 EST 1995 · IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science · OSTI ID:203684

Related Subjects