Radiation damage in n-type silicon diodes after electron irradiation with energies between 1.5 MeV and 15 MeV

Radiation damage in silicon, caused by the creation of point and cluster defects due to energetic charged hadrons and neutrons, results in a serious degradation of silicon-sensor performance and limits their lifetime. So far not all the defects are understood. The work presented here focuses on the study of radiation damage by electrons of different kinetic energies, from 1.5 MeV to 15 MeV, in order to study the differences between point- and cluster-related defects. The introduction rate of vacancy-related point defects and of so-called clustered regions was investigated as a function of electron energy. It is shown that the ratio between cluster dominated and point defect formation increases with increasing electron energy. 1.5 MeV electrons create only point defects, and the formation of cluster defects starts already at 3.5 MeV. To study the defect kinetics, isothermal annealing at 80 °C and isochronal annealing measurements were performed.