Radiation damage and minority carrier lifetime in crystalline silicon

Abstract

The lifetime of the minority carriers in p and n type crystalline silicon was measured with 1 MeV pulsed electron beam. Silicon samples were exposed to different fluences of 1 and 6 MeV electron, 14 MeV neutrons, thermal neutrons and 60Co gamma rays and the value of the radiation damage coefficient for each sample was estimated by monitoring variations in the minority carrier lifetime with radiation fluence. It is found that 14 MeV neutrons can be effectively used in reducing the lifetime of minority carriers in silicon and therefore have potential in controlling parameters of semiconductor devices.