Damage induced in semiconductors by swift heavy ion irradiation

The behaviour of semiconductors under swift heavy ion irradiation is differ ent from that of metals or insulators: no spectacular effect induced by the inelastic energy loss has been reported in these materials. We present her e a review of irradiation effects in the usual semiconductors (silicon, ger manium and gallium arsenide). The damage is investigated by means of electr ical measurements. The usual mechanisms of point defect creation can accoun t for the experimental results. Besides, some results obtained on the wide gap semiconductor silicon carbide are reported. Concerning the irradiation effects induced by heavy ions in particle detectors, based on silicon subst rate, we show that the deterioration of the detector performances can be ex plained from the knowledge of the substrate properties which are strongly p erturbed after high doses of irradiation. Finally, some future ways of inve stigation are proposed. The silicon substrate is a good example to compare the irradiation effects with different particles such as electrons, neutron s and heavy ions. It is then necessary to use parameters which account for the local energy deposition, in order to describe the damage in the materia l (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.