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Radiation hardness is in the focus of the development of particle tracking and photon imaging detector installations. Semiconductor detectors, widely used in particle physics experiments, have turned into capacitive-coupled (AC-coupled) detectors from the originally developed conductively coupled (DC-coupled) detectors. This is due to the superior isolation of radiation-induced leakage current in AC-coupled detectors. However, some modern detector systems, such as the tracking detectors in the CERN LHC CMS or ATLAS experiments, are still DC-coupled. This originates from the difficulty of implementing AC coupling on very small pixel detector areas. In this report, we describe our advances in the detector processing technology. The first topic is the applications of the atomic layer deposition processing technology, which enables the very high densities of capacitance and resistance that are needed when the dimensions of the physical segmentation of pixel detectors need to be scaled down. The second topic is the flip-chip/bump-bonding interconnection technology, which is necessary in order to manufacture pixel detector modules on a large scale with a more than 99% yield of noise-free and faultless pixels and detector channels.

We report initial characterization of our novel sensor process solutions with AC-coupled n + /p − /p + pixel detectors made on 150 mm diameter p-type Magnetic Czochralski silicon (MCz-Si) wafers. The pixels were segmented in a 52 × 80 dual column array and designed to be AC capacitive coupled. The resistive coupling between pixels, allowing quality assurance probing prior the flip chip bonding, was realized with thin film metal-nitride resistors fabricated by sputtering deposition. This approach allows us to omit punch-through resistor structures, which reduces the overall process complexity. Moreover, our previous studies have emphasized that applying ALD Aluminum Oxide (Al 2 O 3 ) field insulator and passivation layer results in negative net oxide charge and thus additional p-spray or p-stop surface current termination structures are not necessary. Our focused application is a radiation-hard ALD AC-coupled pixel detector to be used in future particle physics experiments, such as the High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC), as well as photon counting applications. The pixel detectors were tested at Helsinki Institute of Physics (HIP) Detector laboratory and Ruđer Boskovic Institute (RBI). We show measurement data of pixel detectors and other test structures. For the TiN resistors surrounding pixels, the resistance values were measured to be about 15 k Ω . Data of electrical properties, full depletion voltage and leakage current are shown as well. Our Transient Current Technique (TCT) measurements indicated clear pixel segmentation with excellent homogeneity. For further study, AC-coupled sensors were hybridized to PSI46dig read out chips (ROC) by flip-chip interconnection technique and tested with a radioactive source.

With an expected ten-fold increase in luminosity in S-LHC, the radiation environment in the tracker volumes will be considerably harsher for silicon-based detectors than the already harsh LHC environment. Since 2006, a group of CMS institutes, using a modified CMS DAQ system, has been exploring the use of Magnetic Czochralski silicon as a detector element for the strip tracker layers in S-LHC experiments. Both p+/n-/n+ and n+/p-/p+ sensors have been characterized, irradiated with proton and neutron sources, assembled into modules, and tested in a CERN beamline. There have been three beam studies to date and results from these suggest that both p+/n-/n+ and n+/p-/p+ Magnetic Czochralski silicon are sufficiently radiation hard for the $R>25$ cm regions of S-LHC tracker volumes. The group has also explored the use of forward biasing for heavily irradiated detectors, and although this mode requires sensor temperatures less than -50\,$^\circ$C, the charge collection efficiency appears to be promising., 4 pages, 6 figures, 12th Vienna Conference on Instrumentation

Within the R&D Program for the luminosity upgrade proposed for the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), silicon strip detectors (SSD) and test structures (TS) were manufactured on several high-resistivity substrates: p-type Magnetic Czochralski (MCz) and Float Zone (FZ), and n-type FZ. To test total dose (TID) effects they were irradiated with 60 Co gammas and the impact of surface radiation damage on the detector properties was studied. Selected results from the pre-rad and post-rad characterization of detectors and TS are presented, in particular interstrip capacitance and resistance, break-down voltage, flatband voltage and oxide charge. Surface damage effects show saturation after 150 krad and breakdown performance improves considerably after 210 krad. Annealing was performed both at room temperature and at 60 °C, and large effects on the surface parameters observed.

The charge collected from beta source particles in single pad detectors produced on p-type Magnetic Czochralski (MCz) silicon wafers has been measured before and after irradiation with 26 MeV protons. After a 1 MeV neutron equivalent fluence of 1 × 10 15 cm - 2 the collected charge is reduced to 77% at bias voltages below 900 V. This result is compared with previous results from charge collection measurements.

The depletion depth of irradiated n-type silicon microstrip detectors can be inferred from both the reciprocal capacitance and from the amount of collected charge. Capacitance voltage ( C – V ) measurements at different frequencies and temperatures are being compared with the bias voltage dependence of the charge collection on an irradiated n-type magnetic Czochralski silicon detector. Good agreement between the reciprocal capacitance and the median collected charge is found when the frequency of the C – V measurement is selected such that it scales with the temperature dependence of the leakage current. Measuring C – V characteristics at prescribed combinations of temperature and frequency allows then a realistic estimate of the depletion characteristics of irradiated silicon strip detectors based on C – V data alone.

The aim of this work is the development of radiation hard detectors for very high luminosity colliders. A growing interest has been recently focused on Czochralski silicon as a potentially radiation-hard material. We report on the processing and characterization of micro-strip sensors and pad detectors produced by ITC-IRST on n- and p-type magnetic Czochralski and float zone silicon. Part of the samples has been irradiated using 24 GeV/c protons (CERN-Geneva), while another part has been irradiated with 26 MeV protons (FZK-Karlsruhe) up to a fluence of 5×1015 1 MeV-neutron-equivalent/cm2. All the samples have been completely characterized before and after irradiation. Their radiation hardness as a function of the irradiation fluence has been established in terms of breakdown voltage, leakage current and evaluating the more relevant mini-sensor parameter variation. Moreover, the time evolution of depletion voltage, leakage current and inter-strip capacitance has been monitored in order to study their annealing behavior and space charge sign inversion effects.

The luminosity upgrade of the CERN Large Hadron Collider (SLHC) imposes severe requirements on the radiation hardness of the tracking systems. The CERN RD50 collaboration as well as the Italian INFN SMART project (fifth commission) are focused on the study of new radiation hard materials and devices in view of this upgrade. Preliminary studies on irradiated high resistivity n- and p-type magnetic Czochralski silicon are described in this paper. Electrical characterization and microscopic defect studies were performed on a wide set of diodes made with both n- and p-type float zone and magnetic Czochralski silicon irradiated up to a nominal fluence of 3×10 15 cm −2 1 MeV equivalent neutrons. The annealing behavior was studied in detail and a first evaluation of the damage-related parameters is shown.

We report on the design, manufacturing and first characterisation of pad diodes, test structures and microstrip detectors processed with high resistivity magnetic Czochralski (MCz) p- and n-type Si. The pre-irradiation study on newly processed microstrip detectors and test structures show a good overall quality of the processed wafers. After irradiation with 24 GeV/ c protons up to 4×10 14 cm -2 the characterisation of n-on-p and p-on-n MCz Si sensors with the C – V method show a decrease of the full depletion voltage and no space charge sign inversion. Microscopic characterisation has been performed to study the role of thermal donors in Czochralski Si. No evidence of thermal donor activation was observed in n-type MCz Si detectors if contact sintering was performed at a temperature lower than 380 °C and the final passivation oxide was omitted.

We report on the processing and characterization of microstrip sensors and pad detectors produced on n- and p-type Magnetic Czochralski (MCz), Epitaxial (EPI) and Float Zone (FZ) silicon within the SMART project to develop radiation-hard silicon position sensitive detectors for future colliders. Each wafer contains 10 microstrip sensors with different geometries, several diodes and test structures. The isolation in the strip detectors produced on p-type material has been achieved by means of a uniform p-spray implantation, with doping of 3×10 12 cm −2 (low-dose p-spray) and 5×10 12 cm −2 (high-dose p-spray). The samples have undergone irradiations with 26 MeV protons and reactor neutrons up to ∼10 16 cm −2 1 MeV equivalent neutrons (n eq /cm 2 ), and have been completely characterized before and after irradiation in terms of leakage current, depletion voltage and breakdown voltage. The current damage parameter α has been determined for all substrates. MCz diodes show less pronounced dependence of effective doping concentration N eff on the fluence when compared to standard FZ silicon, giving results comparable to diffusion oxygenated FZ devices for all irradiation sources. The observed increase of N eff with fluence can be interpreted in EPI material as a net donor introduction process, overcompensating the usual acceptor introduction process. This effect is stronger for 26 MeV proton irradiation than for neutron irradiation.