High-resolution alpha-particle spectrometry based on 4H silicon carbide semiconductor detectors

Abstract

Semiconductor detectors made of 4H-SiC material are desirable for applications in harsh environments with high temperature and/or intense radiation. We report the energy resolution and energy linearity of 4H-SiC semiconductor detector using as an alpha particle spectrometer. The leakage current of the 4H-SiC detector is only 14.92 nA/cm2, when a reverse bias of 200 V is applied on it. The energy resolution and energy linearity of 4H-SiC detector are studied using a 226Ra alpha source. The energy resolution of the 4H-SiC detector is 0.61%-0.90% for the 4.8-7.7 MeV alpha particles, which is comparable with the energy resolution results of commercial silicon detectors. The energy linearity of the 4H-SiC detector is very attractive, with the linearly dependent coefficient as good as 0.999 99. This work demonstrates the outstanding energy resolution and energy linearity properties of 4H-SiC semiconductor detectors.