Numerical Modelling of Polycrystalline Diamond device for Advanced Sensor Design

Abstract Technology Computer Aided Design (TCAD) simulation tools are routinely adopted within the design flow of semiconductor devices to simulate their electrical characteristics. However, the device level simulation of diamond is not straightforward within the state-of-the-art TCAD tools. Physical models have to be specifically formulated and tuned for single-crystal CVD (scCVD) and polycrystalline (pcCVD) diamond in order to account for, among others, incomplete ionization, intrinsic carrier free material, dependences of carrier transport on doping and temperature, impact ionization, traps and recombination centers effects. In this work, we propose the development and the application of a numerical model to simulate the electrical characteristics of polycrystalline diamond conceived for sensors fabrication. The model is based on the introduction of an articulated, yet physically based, picture of deep-level defects acting as recombination centers and/or trap states. This approach fosters the exploration and optimization of innovative semiconductor devices conjugating the capabilities of CMOS electronics devices and the properties of diamond substrates, e.g. for biological sensor applications or single particle detectors for High Energy Physics experiments

A study of charge collection processes on polycrystalline diamond detectors

Abstract We performed a study of charge collection distance (CCD) on medium to high-quality prototypes of diamond sensors prepared by Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD). We studied the Charge Collection Efficiency in these materials supposing that it is limited by the presence of a recombination level and a distribution of trap levels centered at 1.7 eV from the band-edge. We also supposed that the exposition to ionizing radiation can make the trap levels ineffective (pumping effect). We have shown that these assumptions are valid by correlating the CCD to the pumping efficiency. Moreover, we have shown that the pumping efficiency is bias-dependent. We have explained our experimental results assuming that trapped carriers generate an electric field inside the diamond bulk

Photoionization of monocrystalline CVD diamond irradiated with ultrashort intense laser pulse

Direct laser writing of conductive paths in synthetic diamond is of interest for implementation in radiation detection and clinical dosimetry. Unraveling the microscopic processes involved in laser irradiation of diamond below and close to the graphitization threshold under the same conditions as the experimental procedure used to produce three-dimensional devices is necessary to tune the laser parameters to optimal results. To this purpose a transient currents technique has been used to measure laser-induced current signals in monocrystalline diamond detectors in a wide range of laser intensities and at different bias voltages. The current transients vs time and the overall charge collected have been compared with theoretical simulations of the carrier dynamics along the duration and after the conclusion of the 30 fs laser pulse. The generated charge has been derived from the collected charge by evaluation of the lifetime of the carriers. The plasma volume has also been evaluated by measuring the modified region. The theoretical simulation has been implemented in the framework of the empirical pseudopotential method extended to include time-dependent couplings of valence electrons to the radiation field. The simulation, in the low-intensity regime, I\ensuremath{\sim}1\phantom{\rule{0.28em}{0ex}}\mathrm{TW}/{\mathrm{cm}}^{2}, predicts substantial deviation from the traditional multiphoton ionization, due to nonperturbative effects involving electrons from degenerate valence bands. For strong field with intensity of about $50\phantom{\rule{0.28em}{0ex}}\mathrm{TW}/{\mathrm{cm}}^{2}$, nonadiabatic effects of electron-hole pair excitation become prominent with high carrier densities eventually causing the optical breakdown of diamond. The comparison of theoretical prediction with experimental data of laser-generated charge vs laser energy density yields a good quantitative agreement over six orders of magnitude. At the highest intensities the change of slope in the trend is explained taking into account the dependence of the optical parameters and the carrier mobility on plasma density

Fabrication and First Full Characterisation of Timing Properties of 3D Diamond Detectors

Tracking detectors at future high luminosity hadron colliders are expected to be able to stand unprecedented levels of radiation as well as to efficiently reconstruct a huge number of tracks and primary vertices. To face the challenges posed by the radiation damage, new extremely radiation hard materials and sensor designs will be needed, while the track and vertex reconstruction problem can be significantly mitigated by the introduction of detectors with excellent timing capabilities. Indeed, the time coordinate provides extremely powerful information to disentangle overlapping tracks and hits in the harsh hadronic collision environment. Diamond 3D pixel sensors optimised for timing applications provide an appealing solution to the above problems as the 3D geometry enhances the already outstanding radiation hardness and allows to exploit the excellent timing properties of diamond. We report here the first full timing characterisation of 3D diamond sensors fabricated by electrode laser graphitisation in Florence. Results from a 270MeV pion beam test of a first prototype and from tests with a β source on a recently fabricated 55×55μm2 pitch sensor are discussed. First results on sensor simulation are also presented

Natural and CVD type diamond detectors as dosimeters in hadrontherapy applications

Abstract Diamond is potentially a suitable material for use as radiation dosimeter; the wide band gap results in low dark currents and low sensitivity to visible light, the high carrier mobility can give rapid response, the very high density of strong bonds in the crystal structure make diamond very resistent to radiation damage; moreover it is tissue equivalent. The more recent advances in the synthesis of polycrystalline diamond by chemical vapour deposition (CVD) techniques have allowed the synthesis of material with electronic properties suitable for dosimetric application. In this paper we will report the results obtained in the study of the response of a natural diamond dosimeter and a CVD one irradiated with 62 AMeV proton beams to demonstrate their possible application in protontherapy