Title :
Amorphous silicon/crystalline silicon heterojunctions for nuclear radiation detector applications
Author :
Walton, J.T. ; Hong, W.S. ; Luke, P.N. ; Wang, N.W. ; Ziemba, F.P.
Author_Institution :
Lawrence Berkeley Lab., CA, USA
Abstract :
Results on the characterization of the electrical properties of amorphous silicon films for the three different growth methods, RF sputtering, PECVD, and LPCVD are reported. The performance of these a-Si films as heterojunctions on high resistivity p-type and n-type crystalline silicon is examined by measuring the noise, leakage current and the alpha particle response of 5 mm diameter detector structures. It is demonstrated that heterojunction detectors formed by RF sputtered films and PECVD films are comparable in performance with conventional surface barrier detectors. The results indicate that the a-Si/c-Si heterojunctions have the potential to greatly simplify detector fabrication. Directions for future avenues of nuclear particle detector development are indicated
Keywords :
CVD coatings; alpha-particle detection; amorphous semiconductors; elemental semiconductors; leakage currents; semiconductor device noise; semiconductor heterojunctions; semiconductor thin films; silicon; silicon radiation detectors; sputtered coatings; 5 mm; LPCVD; PECVD; RF sputtered films; RF sputtering; Si; a-Si films; alpha particle response; amorphous silicon films; amorphous silicon/crystalline silicon heterojunctions; detector fabrication; heterojunction detectors; high resistivity n-type Si; high resistivity p-type Si; nuclear particle detector development; nuclear radiation detector applications; surface barrier detectors; Amorphous silicon; Conductivity; Crystallization; Current measurement; Detectors; Heterojunctions; Noise measurement; Radio frequency; Semiconductor films; Sputtering;
Conference_Titel :
Nuclear Science Symposium, 1996. Conference Record., 1996 IEEE
Conference_Location :
Anaheim, CA
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-3534-1
DOI :
10.1109/NSSMIC.1996.591002
