Title :
The effect of neutron irradiation on silicon photodiodes
Author :
Korde, Raj ; Ojha, Ajay ; Braasch, Robert ; English, Thomas C.
Author_Institution :
United Detector Technol., Hawthorne, CA, USA
fDate :
12/1/1989 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
Neutron radiation testing was performed on a total of 125 silicon photodiodes to investigate the changes in the device parameters after neutron exposure. A californium-252 source was used to irradiate the photodiodes with 1-MeV equivalent neutrons having fluences in the range of 5×1011 to 1014 n/cm2. The photodiode forward voltage drop, ideality factor, and series resistance increased after neutron exposure. The increased series resistance caused a degradation in diode photocurrent linearity. An empirical expression for post-neutron-irradiation changes in photodiode linearity is presented. Neutron-induced changes in the photodiode shunt resistance and dark current were modeled using simple expressions that allow device designers to estimate changes in photocurrent linearity, shunt resistance, and dark current after neutron exposure. No postirradiation change in the ultraviolet quantum efficiency of diodes without recombination in the front region was observed. This suggests that neutron irradiation does not affect the Si-SiO2 interface recombination velocity of p-n junction diodes
Keywords :
elemental semiconductors; neutron effects; photodiodes; radiation hardening (electronics); silicon; 252Cf neutron source; Si photodiodes; Si-SiO2 interface; dark current; effect of neutron irradiation; forward voltage drop; ideality factor; neutron exposure; neutron irradiation; p-n junction diodes; photocurrent linearity; post-neutron-irradiation changes; semiconductors; series resistance; shunt resistance; ultraviolet quantum efficiency; Dark current; Diodes; Linearity; Neutrons; Performance evaluation; Photoconductivity; Photodiodes; Radiative recombination; Silicon; Testing;
Journal_Title :
Nuclear Science, IEEE Transactions on
