Experimental Determination of the Generation Rate Conversion Factor Using a Pulse of Ionizing Radiation of Arbitrary Shape

A method was developed to determine experimentally the generation rate conversion factor, go (electron-hole pairs/m3-rad), using a pulse of ionizing radiation of arbitrary shape. The method involves measuring the photocurrent response of a p-n or Schottky barrier diode as a function of the applied reverse-bias voltage to the diode. The slope of the peak ph tocurrent versus (Vbi + VR)1/2 curve is used to calculate the value of go. The method was applied to Si, GaAs, and GaAs0.5P0.5 Schottky barrier diodes. The experimentally determined values were within ±7.5 percent of the accepted values in the case of silicon and gallium arsenide. The value of go for GaAs0.5P0.5 was found to be 7.45 × 1019 electron-hole pairs/m3-rad.