Alpha-particle-induced charge collection in p-n junction diodes in semi-insulating GaAs substrates

The bias and angle dependences of the alpha-particle-induced charge collected by GaAs p-n junction diodes are investigated. These diodes, in which the n-layer overlays the p-layer, are fabricated in a semi-insulating GaAs substrate by Si and Mg ion implantation. ²⁴¹ Am placed in a vacuum is used as an alpha-particle source with an initial energy of 4.03 MeV and a fluence of 5.4×10^-5/s/μm². The results show that the collected charge is nearly independent of the applied bias. This bias independence may be further evidence that the charge funneling process is not important in semi-insulating GaAs. A model not incorporating funneling can explain the measured angular dependence. Based on this model, the design principle for the buried p-layer structure is discussed