Lithium ion irradiation effects on epitaxial silicon detectors

Diodes manufactured on a thin and highly doped epitaxial silicon layer grown on a Czochralski silicon substrate have been irradiated by high energy lithium ions in order to investigate the effects of high bulk damage levels. This information is useful for possible developments of pixel detectors in future very high luminosity colliders because these new devices present superior radiation hardness than nowadays silicon detectors. The reverse current increase, the variation of the depletion voltage, and their annealing characteristics, as well as the charge collection properties, are presented and discussed.