Title :
Fabrication and Characterization of Ultra-Thin PIN Silicon Detectors for Counting the Passage of MeV Ions
Author :
Abdel, N. ; Pallon, J. ; Graczyk, M. ; Maximov, I. ; Wallman, Lars
Author_Institution :
Phys. Dept., Lund Univ., Lund, Sweden
Abstract :
This paper describes the fabrication and initial characterization of an ultra-thin silicon PIN detector using a new technique in silicon nanotechnology. In collaboration with the Nuclear Physics Division and the Lund Nano Lab at Lund University, we have developed and manufactured ultra thin ΔE-detectors for spectroscopic applications. The fabrication process has been carried out using a double-polished silicon substrate n-type wafer and locally thinning by means of a 10:1 solution of 25% tetramethyl ammonium hydroxide (TMAH) with Isopropyl alcohol. More than 100 detectors of different thicknesses, down to 5 μm with active areas ranging from 0.71 to 0.172 mm2, have been fabricated. The main design considerations of our thin detectors were a very low leakage current below 12 nA and a low full depletion voltage at a reverse bias less than 1.5 V. Finally, most of our thin detectors offer an energy resolution (FWHM) as low as 31 keV for 5.487 MeV alpha particles from a 241Am source.
Keywords :
nanotechnology; silicon radiation detectors; 241Am source; Lund Nano Lab; Lund University; Nuclear Physics Division; alpha particles; double-polished silicon substrate n-type wafer; energy resolution; isopropyl alcohol; silicon nanotechnology; tetramethyl ammonium hydroxide; ultra-thin PIN silicon detectors; Annealing; Detectors; Fabrication; Leakage current; Silicon; Thickness measurement; Voltage measurement; Energy resolution; TMAH etching; leakage current; silicon nano-technology; ultra-thin PIN detector;
Journal_Title :
Nuclear Science, IEEE Transactions on
DOI :
10.1109/TNS.2012.2230644