Effective generation-recombination parameters in high-energy proton irradiated silicon diodes

The degradation of the generation and the recombination lifetime of silicon junction diodes by 10 MeV proton irradiation is compared with the introduction of the radiation-induced deep levels. It is shown that for the fluence range studied, both the reverse current and the reciprocal lifetime increase linearly with 10 MeV H+ fluence. From this study it follows that n-type Si is more prone to high-energy proton irradiation damage than p-type material. From the electrical diode characteristics, it is derived that the dominant generation center in both n- and p-type Float-Zone Si is approximately 0.12 eV from the midgap position. This strongly suggests that in both types of material, the divacancy level at E(c)-0.42 eV is the dominant generation center. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.