Reversible total ionizing dose effects in NiO/Ga2O3 heterojunction rectifiers

Abstract

NiO/Ga2O3 heterojunction rectifiers were exposed to 1 Mrad fluences of Co-60 γ-rays either with or without reverse biases. While there is a small component of Compton electrons (600 keV), generated via the interaction of 1.17 and 1.33 MeV gamma photons with the semiconductor, which in turn can lead to displacement damage, most of the energy is lost to ionization. The effect of the exposure to radiation is a 1000× reduction in forward current and a 100× increase in reverse current in the rectifiers, which is independent of whether the devices were biased during this step. The on–off ratio is also reduced by almost five orders of magnitude. There is a slight reduction in carrier concentration in the Ga2O3 drift region, with an effective carrier removal rate of <4 cm−1. The changes in electrical characteristics are reversible by application of short forward current pulses during repeated measurement of the current–voltage characteristics at room temperature. There are no permanent total ionizing dose effects present in the rectifiers to 1 Mad fluences, which along with their resistance to displacement damage effects indicate that these devices may be well-suited to harsh terrestrial and space radiation applications if appropriate bias sequences are implemented to reverse the radiation-induced changes.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Jan 03, 2023
Source ID
10.1063/5.0134823

Entities

People

  • Aman Haque
  • Chao-Ching Chiang
  • Douglas E. Wolfe
  • Fan Ren
  • Jian-Sian Li
  • Sergei P. Stepanoff
  • Stephen Pearton
  • Xinyi Xia

Organizations

  • Defense Threat Reduction Agency
  • National Science Foundation
  • Pennsylvania State University
  • University of Florida

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Nuclear and Radiation Engineering.
  • Semiconductor Device Technology

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics
  • Space
  • Space - Hall-Effect Thruster