Stability of Charge Collection Efficiency in a Novel Graphene-Optimized Silicon Carbide Detector Under 160 keV X-Ray Irradiation

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that a graphene-optimized silicon carbide detector maintains high charge collection efficiency and fast response under 160 keV X-ray irradiation up to 1 MGy, indicating strong radiation hardness for demanding applications.

Contribution

The paper introduces a novel graphene-optimized silicon carbide detector with proven stability and performance under high-dose X-ray irradiation, advancing radiation-hard detector technology.

Findings

Charge collection efficiency remains above 90% after 1 MGy irradiation.

Rise times increase slightly but stay within fast response range.

Leakage current shows minimal change under irradiation.

Abstract

A novel graphene-optimized silicon carbide PIN detector was fabricated. Its electrical properties, charge collection performance and signal rise time were evaluated under non-irradiated conditions and under X-ray irradiation with an energy of 160 keV at doses of 0.1 MGy and 1 MGy. The leakage currents of the detectors under non-irradiated, 0.1 MGy, and 1 MGy irradiation conditions are approximately 1.45e-10 A, 1.51e-10 A, and 1.57e-10 A, respectively. The effective doping concentration of the detector is approximately 8.08e13 cm^-3 before and after irradiation, with no significant change. The rise times of the signals from alpha particles signal detected by the detector under unirradiated, 0.1 MGy, and 1 MGy X-ray irradiation conditions are 336 ps, 368 ps, and 387 ps, respectively. The rise times of the beta particles signal detected by the detector under unirradiated, 0.1 MGy, and 1 MGy X-ray irradiation conditions are 342 ps, 375 ps, and 398 ps, respectively. After 0.1 MGy and 1 MGy X-ray irradiation, the charge collection efficiencies (CCEs) of the detector for alpha particles are 97.2% and 90.0%, respectively; for beta particles, they are 100.0% and 97.0%, respectively. Experiments confirm that 160 keV X-ray irradiation may not cause significant displacement damage in the 4H-SiC, and the minor performance degradation may be attributed to ionization induced changes in the graphene electrode. The detector exhibits excellent charge collection performance and fast time response. These results demonstrate stable performance under extreme X-ray exposure, highlighting the detector's potential for radiation-hard applications in high-energy physics, space missions, and nuclear reactor monitoring.