Investigation of thermal sensitivity and radiation resistance of SiOx〈Ti〉 metal-dielectric films

• We investigated SiOx〈Ti〉 films as materials for thermosensitive detectors.
• In composite SiOx〈Ti〉 films the metal concentration in the dielectric matrix was varied with thickness.
• After annealing at 500 °C neither resistance nor TCR of MDTF were changed during storage.
• The gamma irradiation has very little effect on sample characteristics up to a dose of 105 Gy.
• SiOx〈Ti〉 MDTF are promising for thermosensitive detectors operated in γ-radiation fields.

In this investigation the composite SiOx〈Ti〉 films were prepared by the thermal evaporation of a mixture of silicon oxide (SiO2) and Тi powders. The optical transmission of the films in the IR spectral range and their temperature-sensitive properties are studied. By varying the contents of the metal in vaporizer and time of evaporation it is possible to obtain SiOx〈Ti〉 layers with resistance (for monopixel of 0.8 × 1 mm) from tens kOhms to MOhms and a value of the temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) is equal to −2.22% K−1. IR spectrum of SiOx〈Ti〉 film is characterized by a broad absorption band in the range of 8–12 μm which is associated with the Si–O–Si stretching mode.Investigations of the effect of gamma irradiation on SiOx〈Ti〉 films have shown that their temperature-sensitive properties, in particular TCR does not change up to a dose of 106 Gy.These results suggest that SiOx〈Ti〉 films can be used as materials for production of radiation-resistant thermosensitive detectors operated in radiation fields of γ-radiation and combining functions of IR-absorption and formation of an electric signal.