Electronic Properties of a Synthetic Single-Crystal Diamond Exposed to High Temperature and High Radiation.

Andreo Crnjac,Mauricio Rodriguez-Ramos,Natko Skukan,Michal Pomorski,Georgios Provatas,Milko Jakšić

doi:10.3390/ma13112473

Abstract

Diamond, as a wide band-gap semiconductor material, has the potential to be exploited under a wide range of extreme operating conditions, including those used for radiation detectors. The radiation tolerance of a single-crystal chemical vapor deposition (scCVD) diamond detector was therefore investigated while heating the device to elevated temperatures. In this way, operation under both high-temperature and high-radiation conditions could be tested simultaneously. To selectively introduce damage in small areas of the detector material, a 5 MeV scanning proton microbeam was used as damaging radiation. The charge collection efficiency (CCE) in the damaged areas was monitored using 2 MeV protons and the ion beam induced charge (IBIC) technique, indicating that the CCE decreases with increasing temperature. This decreasing trend saturates in the temperature range of approximately 660 K, after which CCE recovery is observed. These results suggest that the radiation hardness of diamond detectors deteriorates at elevated temperatures, despite the annealing effects that are also observed. It should be noted that the diamond detector investigated herein retained its very good spectroscopic properties even at an operation temperature of 725 K (≈2% for 2 MeV protons).

Highlights

It is expected that diamond, as a large band-gap semiconductor, is able to maintain good electronic properties at working temperatures much higher than those applicable for silicon
There are an extensive number of publications dealing with the radiation hardness of diamond detectors [2,3,4], there is limited information about detectors operating in both high-radiation and high-temperature environments
Concerning the upper limits of the diamond-based detector operating temperature, in recent years, several authors have shown that significant degradation of signal properties and charge collection efficiency may already appear at rather low temperatures ranging from 370 K to 600 K [5,6,7]

Summary

Introduction

It is expected that diamond, as a large band-gap semiconductor, is able to maintain good electronic properties at working temperatures much higher than those applicable for silicon. Concerning the upper limits of the diamond-based detector operating temperature, in recent years, several authors have shown that significant degradation of signal properties and charge collection efficiency may already appear at rather low temperatures ranging from 370 K to 600 K [5,6,7]. These inconclusive results demonstrate that the effects of temperature on detector operation need to be studied more thoroughly.

Methods

Results

Conclusion