Effect of Neutron Irradiation on the Characteristics of SiC and Si Detectors

The characteristics of detectors based on silicon (Si) and silicon carbide (SiC), which were irradiated with integral neutron fluxes Φ = 5.1 × 1013, 5.4 × 1014, and 3.4 × 1015 neutrons/cm2 (1 MeV/Si), are presented. It was found that the conductivity of the sensitive region becomes close to its own for all irradiated samples. Using alfa particles, the authors found that, for Si detectors irradiated with a minimum flux of 5.1 × 1013 neutrons/cm2, the charge collection efficiency (η) does not exceed 1.5%. For SiC detectors irradiated with a similar flux, η = 96%, and η decreased to 70 and 1.5%, respectively, when irradiated with average and maximum fluxes. Thus, it is shown that the deterioration in the performance of SiC detectors occurs at significantly higher dose loads than when using Si devices.