Current-Voltage Characteristics of 4 MeV Proton-Irradiated Silicon Diodes at Room Temperature

A change in current-voltage (I-V) behaviour of the p-Si-based diodes as a result of 4 MeV proton-irradiation to the fluence of 10(16) p/cm(-2) was investigated using I-V techniques at room temperature. The diode I-V behaviour changed from normal exponential to ohmic behaviour after proton-irradiation, indicating that proton introduce generation-recombination (g-r) centres, defect levels that are positioned in the middle of the band gap of Si. These centres recombine mobile charge carriers, thereby, reducing the concentration of carriers through the space charge region (SCR). The reduction of the concentration results in an increase in material resistivity as confirmed by the increase in series resistance after proton-irradiation. Furthermore, a change in diode parameters such as saturation current (I-s), ideality factor (eta), Schottky barrier height (phi(b)), and series resistance (R-s) due to the irradiation is also investigated. A change in diode parameters and conduction mechanism due to proton-irradiation presented in this work is of great importance for an ongoing study on radiation-induced damages and radiation-hardness of Si material.