Study of breakdown effects in silicon multiguard structures

The purpose of this work is to study layout solutions aimed at increasing t he breakdown voltage in silicon micro-strip detectors. Several structures with multiple floating guards in different configuration s have been designed and produced on high- resistivity silicon wafers. The main electrical characteristics of these devices have been measured before and after irradiation. Both radiation-induced surface and bulk damage effec ts were considered as well. The highest breakdown voltage was found on devi ces featuring p(+) guards without field plates. A simulation study has been carried out on simplified structures to evaluate the distribution of the b reakdown field as a function of the guard layout, The aim was the design op timization.