Heavy ion radiation damage in double-sided silicon strip detectors

A ²⁵²Cf fission fragment source was used to produce heavy-ion radiation damage in a double-sided silicon strip detector. It was found that a good quality fission fragment spectrum (as determined by the peak to valley ration N_L/N_V) could not be achieved for radiation incident on the p⁺ face of the detector. However, for radiation incident on the n⁺ face, the ratio N_L/N_V remained adequate up to an accumulated dose of 4×10⁶ fragments mm⁻². For the measurement of alphas, typical resolution deteriorated from an initial 30 keV FWHM to 50 keV FWHM at a dose of 8×10⁶ fragments mm⁻² for incident on the n⁺ face, and 6×10⁶ for radiation incident on the p⁺ face. The interstrip resistance in one region of the n⁺ face broke down completely after a relatively small radiation doses incident on that face. Further investigation of this is still required.