Impact of low-dose electron irradiation on n+p silicon strip sensors

TL;DR

This study investigates how low-dose electron irradiation affects the charge collection and sharing in n+p silicon strip sensors, revealing significant changes that are only partially reversible through annealing, with implications for sensor design.

Contribution

It provides experimental data and TCAD simulation insights on radiation-induced changes in silicon strip sensors, focusing on oxide-charge effects and their impact on sensor performance.

Findings

Significant charge collection changes occur after a few hours of irradiation.

Partial annealing of radiation effects is possible at elevated temperatures.

Oxide-charge density increase explains the observed sensor behavior.

Abstract

The response of n+p silicon strip sensors to electrons from a Sr-90 source was measured using a multi-channel read-out system with 25 ns sampling time. The measurements were performed over a period of several weeks, during which the operating conditions were varied. The sensors were fabricated by Hamamatsu Photonics K.K. on 200 micrometer thick float-zone and magnetic-Czochralski silicon. Their pitch was 80 micrometer, and both p-stop and p-spray isolation of the n+ strips were studied. The electrons from the Sr-90 source were collimated to a spot with a full-width-at-half-maximum of 2 mm at the sensor surface, and the dose rate in the SiO2 at the maximum was about 50 Gy/d. After only a few hours of making measurements, significant changes in charge collection and charge sharing were observed. Annealing studies, with temperatures up to 80{\deg}C and annealing times of 18 hours, showed that the changes can only be partially annealed. The observations can be qualitatively explained by the increase of the positive oxide-charge density due to the ionization of the SiO2 by the radiation from the {\ss} source. TCAD simulations of the electric field in the sensor for different oxide-charge densities and different boundary conditions at the sensor surface support this explanation. The relevance of the measurements for the design of p+n strip sensors is discussed.