Investigation of radiation hardness of silicon semiconductor detectors under irradiation with fission products of 252Cf nuclide

TL;DR

This study examines how prolonged exposure to fission products from 252Cf affects silicon semiconductor detectors, revealing a linear energy shift in fission fragment peaks influenced by detector type and electric field, regardless of temperature.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the radiation hardness of various silicon detectors under fission fragment irradiation, aiding their potential use in neutron calibration sources.

Findings

Peak positions shift linearly with irradiation dose

Shift rate depends on detector type and electric field

Temperature has negligible effect on peak shift

Abstract

Influence of the prolonged irradiation by fission products of 252Cf radionuclide on the operational parameters of silicon-lithium Si(Li) p-i-n detectors, Si surface barrier detectors and Si planar p+n detector was investigated. The obtained results revealed a linear shift of the fission fragment peaks positions towards the lower energies with increase of the irradiation dose for all investigated detectors. The rate of the peaks shift was found to depend strongly on the detector type and the strength of the electric field in the detectors active region, but not on the temperature of irradiation (room or liquid nitrogen temperature). Based on the obtained results, the possibility of integration of the investigated types of Si semiconductor detectors in a radionuclide neutron calibration source is considered.