Effect of neutron irradiation on charge collection efficiency in 4H-SiC Schottky diode

The charge collection efficiency (CCE) in 4H-SiC Schottky diode is studied as a function of neutron fluence. The 4H-SiC diode was irradiated with fast neutrons of a critical assembly in Nuclear Physics and Chemistry Institute and CCE for 3.5 MeV alpha particles was then measured as a function of the applied reverse bias. It was found from our experiment that an increase of neutron fluence led to a decrease of CCE. In particular, CCE of the diode was less than 1.3% at zero bias after an irradiation at 8.26×1014 n/cm2. A generalized Hecht's equation was employed to analyze CCE in neutron irradiated 4H-SiC diode. The calculations nicely fit the CCE of 4H-SiC diode irradiated at different neutron fluences. According to the calculated results, the extracted electron μτ product (μτ)e and hole μτ product (μτ)h of the irradiated 4H-SiC diode are found to decrease by increasing the neutron fluence.