Super-thin single crystal diamond membrane radiation detectors

Cite as

Michal Pomorski (1) , Benoît Caylar (1) , Philippe Bergonzo (1)

1 LCD-LIST - Laboratoire Capteurs Diamant

We propose to use the non-electronic grade (nitrogen content 5 ppb < [N] < 5 ppm) single crystal (sc) chemical vapour deposited (CVD) diamond as a thin-membrane radiation detector. Using deep Ar/O$_2$ plasma etching it is possible to produce self-supported few micrometres thick scCVD membranes of a size approaching 7 mm × 7 mm, with a very good surface quality. After metallization and contacting, electrical properties of diamond membrane detectors were probed with 5.486 MeV $\alpha$-particles as an ionization source. Despite nitrogen impurity, scCVD membrane detectors exhibit stable operation, charge collection efficiency close to 100%, with homogenous response, and extraordinary dielectric strength up to 30 V/$\mu$m.

Domains: Engineering Sciences [physics]; Micro and nanotechnologies/Microelectronics; Physics [physics]; Nuclear Experiment [nucl-ex]; Physics [physics]; Physics [physics]; Instrumentation and Detectors [physics.ins-det]

Michal Pomorski, Benoît Caylar, Philippe Bergonzo. Super-thin single crystal diamond membrane radiation detectors. Applied Physics Letters, 2013, 103, pp.112106. ⟨10.1063/1.4821035⟩. ⟨cea-01816364⟩