Electric field distribution in irradiated silicon detectors

Particle irradiation causes dramatic changes in bulk properties of p+–n–n+ silicon structures operating as particle detectors. Several attempts to model and justify such variations have been proposed in the last few years. The main unsolved problem remains in the determination of the electric field and depletion layer distributions as key-parameters to estimate the collection efficiency of the detector. By using optical beam induced current (OBIC) and surface potential (SP) measurements we determined the behavior of the electric field and confirmed the existence of a double-junction structure appearing after irradiation.