AVS 58th Annual International Symposium and Exhibition
    Electronic Materials and Processing Division Thursday Sessions
       Session EM-ThP

Paper EM-ThP4
Novel Materials and Device Structures for Solid-State Charged Particle Detectors

Thursday, November 3, 2011, 6:00 pm, Room East Exhibit Hall

Session: Electronic Materials and Processing Poster Session
Presenter: John Murphy, University of Texas at Dallas
Authors: J.W. Murphy, University of Texas at Dallas
J.I. Mejia, University of Texas at Dallas
B.E. Gnade, University of Texas at Dallas
M.A. Quevedo-Lopez, University of Texas at Dallas
Correspondent: Click to Email
Detectors for charged particle spectroscopy are typically fabricated from crystalline silicon, germanium, or gallium arsenide, which are high-cost materials. However, if the purpose of the device is particle detection rather than spectroscopy, then it is possible to use less expensive materials and deposition techniques to fabricate electrically-sensing, solid-state particle detectors. Particularly, we are interested in detecting alpha particles emitted from a 210-Polonium source. In this work we investigate ZnO nanostructures in combination with poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) to form hybrid inorganic/organic p-n diodes which are as charged particle sensors. The ZnO nanostructures are grown from solution on a Cr electrode, and the P3HT is subsequently deposited via the drop-casting technique to achieve bi-layer film thicknesses on the order of microns. We evaluate the devices' performance in terms of leakage current, capacitance, and alpha particle detection efficiency as a function of thickness, DC bias, and annealing treatment. The structures are investigated using x-ray diffraction and cross-sectional electron microscopy. We also study the materials degradation upon exposure to radiation by monitoring the leakage current.