Improved radiation detectors on 4H-SiC epilayers by edge termination

We report the development of an edge termination by depositing thin Si3N4 passivating film on 4H-SiC epilayer based radiation detector. The edge termination method is shown to be very effective for improving both the detector leakage current and radiation detection performance compared with that of a conventional detector fabricated from the same parent wafer. The detector leakage current was found to have improved two orders of magnitude. Significant improvement in radiation detection performance was shown from alpha spectroscopy measurements prior and subsequent to Si3N4 edge termination. Deep Level Transient Spectroscopy (DLTS) measurements revealed a reduction in life-time killing defects of detectors with Si3N4 edge termination which could be related to the observed improvements in radiation detection performance.The authors would like to acknowledge the support from the Department of Energy (DOE), Nuclear Energy’s Nuclear Energy University Programs (NEUP), Grant No. DE-AC07-051D14517; Los Alamos National Laboratory/DOE, Grant No. 143479; and the Advanced Support for Innovative Research Excellence-I (ASPIRE-I) of the University of South Carolina, Columbia, Grant No. 15530-E404