Numerical analysis of thinned silicon detectors

In the framework of the CERN-RD50 and INFN-SMART collaboration, we have investigated the possibility of using thin devices as a solution to improve the reliability of silicon detectors after long-term irradiation at the Super-Large Hadron Collider (LHC). In this work, we compare conventional silicon detectors (p-on-n type diodes over a 300 μm thick wafer substrates) with thinned devices (50–100 μm thick). The performance of these structures have been studied by means of a three defect level radiation damage model, implemented in the SYNOPSYS-TCAD device simulator. The effects of the radiation fluence on the effective doping concentration (Neff), leakage current and charge collection efficiency (CCE) have been investigated up to irradiation fluencies of 1016 1 MeV neutron-equivalent/cm2. The simulations have been compared with experimental measurements carried out on similar test structures irradiated with neutrons and protons at high fluencies.