Performance of 3-D architecture silicon sensors after intense proton irradiation

Silicon detectors with a three-dimensional architecture, in which the n- an d p-electrodes penetrate through the entire substrate, have been successful ly fabricated. The electrodes can be separated from each other by distances that are less than the substrate thickness, allowing short collection path s, low depletion voltages, and large current signals from rapid charge coll ection. While no special hardening steps were taken in this initial fabrica tion run, these features of three-dimensional architectures produce an intr insic resistance to the effects of radiation damage. Some performance measu rements are given for detectors that are fully depleted and working after e xposures to proton beams with doses equivalent to that from slightly more t han ten years at the B-layer radius (50 mm) in the planned Atlas detector a t the Large Hadron Collider at CERN.