Silicon avalanche diodes for direct detection of nuclear particles

The junction termination extension (JTE) avalanche diode (AD) for direct detection of nuclear particles was built with the use of planar technology processing. The active area of the detector with JTE structure have been processed simultaneously, by one implantation of boron step followed by the diffusion up to the depth of 14 mum. The contact layer (p⁺ region) had the thickness of 80 nm and was created by a molecular beam epitaxy to get the energy detection threshold as low as possible. The breakdown voltage of this device was as high as 1130 V. The gain measured under the visible light and protons with the energy 25 keV irradiation was as high as 25. The amplitude of the response of these diodes to the single alpha-particle with the energy 2.5 MeV corresponded to the equivalent gain value more then 3000.