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Thin-Film Gallium Antimonide for Room-Temperature Radiation Detection

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Abstract

Thin-film GaSb diodes were fabricated and investigated for room-temperature radiation detection. GaSb PN junction-based detectors were fabricated by use of both ion-implantation and epitaxial methods, and were compared for crystal quality and detector performance. The implanted junctions were obtained by p-type Be ion-implantation in n-type GaSb substrates whereas the epitaxial junctions were grown by solid-source molecular beam epitaxy. Alpha-particle and fission-fragment peaks were observed in spectra from 241Am and 252Cf. A highly uniform response was obtained from epitaxially grown GaSb junctions whereas large pulse-height response variation was observed for the implanted diodes. The devices were fabricated in the form of metalized squares with dimensions varying from 2 × 2 mm2 to 500 × 500 μm2. Reducing the size reduced detection efficiency but also increased the pulse height response and thus the signal-to-noise ratio, consistent with diode capacitance and output voltage pulse relationships. Cross-sectional transmission electron microscope imaging revealed very high-quality material for the epitaxial structure and implantation-induced damage for the implanted material.

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Acknowledgements

This research was partially supported by Idaho National Laboratory National Universities Consortium contract number 00044825. The authors would like to express gratitude to F.K. Husher for the generous design and construction of the microprobe station.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nuclear Engineering, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, 87131, USA

    E. I. Vaughan & A. A. Hecht

  2. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, 87131, USA

    N. Rahimi & G. Balakrishnan

  3. Center for High Technology Materials, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, 87131, USA

    N. Rahimi & G. Balakrishnan

Authors
  1. E. I. Vaughan
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  2. N. Rahimi
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  3. G. Balakrishnan
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  4. A. A. Hecht
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Correspondence to A. A. Hecht.

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Vaughan, E.I., Rahimi, N., Balakrishnan, G. et al. Thin-Film Gallium Antimonide for Room-Temperature Radiation Detection. J. Electron. Mater. 44, 3288–3293 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-015-3869-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-015-3869-3

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