Semi-transparent SiC Schottky diodes for X-ray spectroscopy

We describe a novel SiC Schottky diode architecture. The semi-transparent SiC Schottky diode has an “ultra-thin” (18 nm Ni/Ti) Schottky contact, a gold annular overlayer and a gold corner-contact pad. We show that the new architecture exhibits the same essential characteristics as a more conventional “thick-contact” Schottky diode (⩾100 nm). Such diodes will have a higher efficiency for low-energy (<5 keV) X-rays than that of conventional structures combined with minimal self-fluorescence from the electrode materials. We present X-ray spectra from 55Fe, 109Cd and 241Am radioactive sources that show these diodes can be used for spectroscopy with promising energy resolution (1.47 keV FWHM at 22 keV) at room temperature (23 °C). The reduction in contact thickness, however, does reduce the barrier height of the new diodes in comparison to those fabricated using the conventional process, and requires a trade-off between the low-energy detection threshold and the noise in the detector.