Speaker
Description
In recent years, silicon carbide (SiC) has gained growing interest as a material for radiation-hard particle detectors due to its increasing availability for industrial power devices. Compared to silicon, SiC offers lower leakage currents post-irradiation, higher thermal conductivity, and larger charge carrier saturation velocity. Its suitability for particle detection and the influence of radiation-induced defects on its performance are under intensive study in the HEP community. This presentation highlights recent research on 4H-SiC conducted at HEPHY Vienna.
4H-SiC p-in-n sensors, neutron-irradiated up to fluences of 1e18 neq/cm², have been characterized for their current-voltage (IV) and capacitance-voltage (CV) behavior, as well as their charge collection efficiency (CCE). For fluences <1e15 neq/cm², UV-TCT measurements revealed a CCE exceeding 100% under forward bias, which depends on beam focus and charge injection rate. Based on these measurements, a 4H-SiC bulk radiation damage model was developed for TCAD simulations. It accurately predicts the loss of rectification in forward bias, capacitance flattening, and CCE degradation after irradiation.
Further work includes a TCAD design of a 4H-SiC low-gain avalanche diode (LGAD) for an upcoming production run, the design of amplifier electronics and sensors using a 2μm 4H-SiC-CMOS process, and studies using 4H-SiC devices as active dosimeters and for characterizing FLASH beams at a local ion beam cancer therapy center.
