P. N. Aruev

A study of vacuum-ultraviolet stability of silicon photodiodes

Silicon photodiodes have been tested for resistance to vacuum-ultraviolet radiation at 121.6 nm. The responsivities of the p-n and n-p photodiodes under study were found to degrade by tens of percent at a VUV radiation dose on the order of tens of mJ/cm2. The effect of reversible photocurrent relaxation has been observed in detectors based on n-p structures.

Si:Si LEDs with room-temperature dislocation-related luminescence

Silicon-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs) fabricated by the Si-ion implantation and chemical-vapor deposition methods are studied. Room-temperature dislocation-related electroluminescence (EL) is observed in LEDs based on n-Si. In LEDs based on p-Si, the EL is quenched at temperatures higher than 220 K. The EL-excitation efficiencies are measured for the D1 line at room temperature and the D1 and D4 lines at liquid-nitrogen temperature.

Photoresponse of a Silicon Multipixel Photon Counter in the Vacuum Ultraviolet Range

Photoresponse of a silicon multipixel photon counter (MPPC) operating in the Geiger breakdown regime has been studied at wavelengths λ = 115, 121, 128, 160, and 175 nm. It is established that radiation intensity at these wavelengths can be measured by MPPC at room temperature in the photon-count mode with efficiency on a level of 2%.

Photoresponse recovery in silicon photodiodes upon VUV irradiation

The spatial homogeneity of the photoresponse is studied for silicon photodiodes based on p-n and n-p junctions a year after their irradiation at a wavelength of 121.6 nm and those based on n-p junctions four years after their irradiation with soft X-rays. It is demonstrated that silicon photodiodes based on p-n junctions exhibit a photoresponse recovery effect on being irradiated at a wavelength of 121.6 nm. No recovery effect is observed for silicon photodiodes based on n-p structures.

Utilization of silicon detectors with “ideal-diode” current-voltage characteristics

The extremely low level of intrinsic noise attained in silicon detectors with “ideal-diode” current-voltage characteristics has made it possible to create measuring circuits capable of detecting currents as low as 10−16 A and, at the same time, featuring a dynamic range as large as 1011–1012.

Electroluminescence properties of LEDs based on electron-irradiated p -Si

The electroluminescence (EL) in n+–p–p+ light-emitting-diode (LED) structures based on Si irradiated with electrons and annealed at high temperature is studied. The LEDs are fabricated by the chemical- vapor deposition of polycrystalline silicon layers doped with high concentrations of boron and phosphorus. Transformation of the EL spectra with current in the LEDs is well described by six Gaussian curves. The peak positions of these curves are current-independent and equal to 1233, 1308, 1363, 1425, 1479, and 1520 nm. The dependences of the integrated EL intensity and of the full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of the lines on current are examined.

Effect of the fabrication conditions of SiGe LEDs on their luminescence and electrical properties

SiGe-based n+–p–p+ light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with heavily doped layers fabricated by the diffusion (of boron and phosphorus) and CVD (chemical-vapor deposition of polycrystalline silicon layers doped with boron and phosphorus) techniques are studied. The electroluminescence spectra of both kinds of LEDs are identical, but the emission intensity of CVD diodes is ∼20 times lower. The reverse and forward currents in the CVD diodes are substantially higher than those in diffusion-grown diodes. The poorer luminescence and electrical properties of the CVD diodes are due to the formation of defects at the interface between the emitter and base layers.

Structural and luminescent properties of electron-irradiated silicon

Structural defects induced by electron irradiation of p-Cz-Si wafers were identified. The influence of the annealing conditions in a chlorine-containing atmosphere on the structural and luminescent properties of the samples was examined. Light-emitting diodes based on electron-irradiated and high-temperature-annealed wafers were fabricated by a vapour-phase epitaxy technique and their luminescence properties were studied. A high-intensity dislocation-related D1 line was observed at 1.6 μm in the room-temperature electroluminescence spectrum.

Isotope-pure 28Si layers grown by VPE

Vapor-phase epitaxy was used to grow Si layers enriched to 99.96% with 28Si isotope. Secondary-ion mass spectrometry and Raman spectroscopy were used to demonstrate the high quality of the epitaxial material obtained.