Proton Irradiation of Silicon Schottky Barrier Power Diodes

Commercial silicon Schottky barrier power diodes have been subjected to 203 MeV proton irradiation and the effects of the resultant displacement damage on the I-V characteristics have been observed. The diodes show excellent resistance to radiation damage. Changes in forward and reverse bias I-V characteristics are reported for irradiated commercial Schottky barrier diodes at fluences up to 4xl0¹⁴ p/cm². Small changes are seen in the reverse bias I-V characteristics with increasing irradiation fluence. In forward bias, the series resistance is observed to increase as the fluence increases. The changes in series resistance are interpreted as being due to changes in the effective dopant density due to carrier removal by the defects produced.