Carbon Ion Irradiation Damage Effects on Electrical Characteristics of Silicon PNP Power BJTs

The 85 MeV ¹²C⁶⁺ and 35 MeV ¹²C³⁺ ion induced forward current gain degradation on 2N 6052 transistor is investigated by I-V measurements before and after irradiation. The decrease in gain for 85 MeV C-ion irradiated transistor is drastic, indicating the device is vulnerable for higher energy irradiation. An increase in the base current leading to degradation of the current gain may be due to displacement damage dose. C-V measurements estimate the effect of irradiation on the doping concentration of the devices. A plot of (1/C²) versus base-emitter voltage shows that the doping concentration increases marginally upon irradiation. DLTS measurements indicate the cluster defects are produced after irradiation to a fluence of 1 × 10¹² ions/cm².