Electrical properties of silicon diodes with pn junctions irradiated with Au swift heavy ions

Electrical properties of silicon diodes with p⁺n junctions irradiated with ¹⁹⁷Au⁺²⁶ swift heavy ions (energy E = 350 MeV, fluences of 10⁷ cm⁻² and 10⁸ cm⁻²) and silicon diodes irradiated with electrons (energy E = 3.5 MeV, fluences of 10¹⁵ cm⁻², 5 × 10¹⁵ cm⁻² and 10¹⁶ cm⁻²) have been investigated. Frequency dependences of the impedance, current-voltage characteristics and switching characteristics of these devices have been studied. Irradiation of the diodes with ¹⁹⁷Au⁺²⁶ ions at a fluence of 10⁸ cm⁻² leads to the formation of a quasi-continuous layer of irradiation-induced defects that enable a combination of characteristics such as a reverse resistance recovery time and direct voltage drop that are better than those for electron-irradiated diodes. Still, the irradiation of high-energy ions results in an increase in recombination currents that are larger than those obtained with electron irradiation, and causes more complicated frequency dispersion of the diode parameters.