Dopant concentration dependence of the response of SiC Schottky diodes to light ions

The responses of Silicon Carbide (SiC) Schottky diodes of different dopant concentration to 12C ions at 14.2, 28.1 and 37.6 MeV incident energies are compared. The relation between the applied reverse bias and the thickness of the depleted epitaxial region is studied for different dopant concentrations. The experimental data show that SiC diodes with lower dopant concentration need lower reverse bias to be depleted. Moreover it has been observed that the energy resolution, measured as a function of the applied reverse bias and of the ions incident energies, does not depend on the dopant concentration. The radiation damage, produced by irradiating SiC diodes of different dopant concentration with 16O ions at 35.2 MeV, was evaluated by measuring the degradation of both the signal pulse-height and the energy resolution as a function of the 16O fluence. Diodes having a factor 20 lower dopant concentration exhibit a radiation hardness reduced by 60%. No inversion in the signal at the breakdown fluence was observed for 16O ions stopped inside the diode epitaxial region.