Demonstration of an SiC neutron detector for high-radiation environments

Neutron response studies have been performed on Schottky diodes fabricated using 4H-SiC material. These studies indicate that neutron detection using SiC diodes is possible without significant degradation in the energy resolu tion, noise characteristics or, most importantly, the neutron counting rate even after exposure to neutron fluences of 3.4 x 10(17) n(th)/cm(2) (1 x 1 0(17) n(fast)/cm(2) E-n ,(fast) > 1 MeV), the highest yet examined. The res ults represent orders of magnitude increased device lifetilne in neutron fi elds compared to commercial silicon based detectors. Additionally, detector response was found to be linear up to thermal neutron fluxes of 2000 n(th) /cm(2)/s. However, degradation in the charge collection efficiency due to n eutron damage-induced defects prevented self-biased operation after exposur es above similar to 5.7 x 10(16) n(th)/cm(2). A carrier removal rate of 9.7 +/-0.7 cm(-1) was calculated from C-V doping profile measurements on neutro n irradiated samples. These results demonstrate the viability of SiC-based detectors for a variety of radiation monitoring applications.