Effect of heavy proton and neutron irradiations on epitaxial 4H-SiC Schottky diodes

In this work we report electrical characterizations on heavily irradiated epitaxial 4H-SiC Schottky diodes. Even after an irradiation at a fluence of 1.4 × 10 16 p / cm 2 and 7 × 10 15 n / cm 2 , we found the diodes still able to detect α and β particles with a charge collection efficiency (CCE) ranging from 25 to 30% after proton irradiation and about 18% after neutron irradiation, at the highest reverse bias applied. This corresponds to a charge collection distance (CCD) of 7 μ m after the proton irradiation and 5 μ m after the neutron irradiation. As the irradiation level approaches the range ∼ 10 15 / cm 2 , the material behaves as intrinsic due to a very high compensation effect.