The operational useful lifetime of semiconductor electronic devices working in harsh radiation environments is limited by the structural defects induced by the exposure to ionizing radiation. This has immediate consequences for their use in high radiation environments, for example in nuclear facilities, satellites, radiotherapy, medical diagnostics, security and other industries. This publication establishes a standardized procedure to quantify the radiation hardness of semiconductor diode materials in a way that is independent of the irradiation parameters and biasing conditions of the device. The established parameter reflects the additional free charge carrier trapping cross section induced by the damaging radiation, normalized to the predicted concentration of generated vacancies by the same radiation. The effectiveness of the approach is validated through different types of ion beam irradiations, characterizations and materials used. The work leads towards approaches to predict the radiation induced effects on device performance for more complex electronic structures.

• 1. INTRODUCTION
  • 1.1. Background
  • 1.2. Objective
  • 1.3. Structure
  • 1.4. Scope
• 2. MODELLING OF ELECTROSTATICS AND INDUCED CHARGE
  • 2.1. Poisson and continuity equations in three dimensions
  • 2.2. Determination of the dopant concentration profile
  • 2.3. Electrostatics in one dimension under steady state conditions
  • 2.4. Quasi-steady-state conditions
  • 2.5. Modelling of the induced charge
  • 2.6. The adjoint equation method for determining the induced charge
• 3. ENERGETIC ION–MATTER INTERACTIONS
  • 3.1. Interaction mechanisms
    • 3.1.1. Electronic energy loss and charge carrier generation
    • 3.1.2. Nuclear energy loss and radiation damage
  • 3.2. Ion beam track parameters
    • 3.2.1. Linear stopping power
    • 3.2.2. Straggling
    • 3.2.3. Ion range
  • 3.3. Calculation of carrier and damage generation profiles using Monte Carlo simulations
• 4. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES
  • 4.1. Design of experimental procedures
  • 4.2. Electronics and calibration
    • 4.2.1. Pulse height measurement set-up
    • 4.2.2. Calibration of the pulse height measurement set-up in terms of CCE
    • 4.2.3. Layer thickness measurement
  • 4.3. Ion microbeams
    • 4.3.1. Set-up for ion beam induced charge technique and scanning transmission ion microscopy
    • 4.3.2. Beam size and scan size determination
    • 4.3.3. Beam current measurement
    • 4.3.4. Application of experimental procedures
• 5. MODELLING OF THE CHARGE COLLECTION EFFICIENCY
  • 5.1. Radiation induced carrier lifetime degradation
  • 5.2. A general model for charge collection efficiency degradation in low damage conditions
    • 5.2.1. Charge collection efficiency under full depletion conditions
    • 5.2.2. Charge collection efficiency for a very low level of damage
    • 5.2.3. The displacement damage dose
  • 5.3. Determination of the capture coefficients
  • 5.4. Error budget
• 6. Summary and outlook
• Appendix I SUMMARY OF ASSUMPTIONS MADE IN THE MODEL
• Appendix IIFEATURES OF DEVICE UNDER STUDY 1
• Appendix IIIFEATURES OF DEVICE UNDER STUDY 2
• Appendix IV MOBILITY AND LIFETIME PARAMETERIZATION FOR SILICON
• Appendix V DEVICE SIMULATION METHODS AND SOFTWARE
• REFERENCES
• SYMBOLS
• ABBREVIATIONS
• CONTRIBUTORS TO DRAFTING AND REVIEW