X-Ray Radiation Detector and Operation Method

Abstract

In an embodiment a radiation detector includes a semiconductor body configured to detect X-rays having a radiation entrance side, an electrically conductive window layer areally arranged to the radiation entrance side, the window layer having boron and/or carbon and having a thickness of at most 20 nm and an electrically conductive bar structure on the window layer and in electrical contact with the window layer.

Claims

1. A radiation detector comprising: a semiconductor body configured to detect X-rays having a radiation entrance side; an electrically conductive window layer areally arranged to the radiation entrance side, the window layer comprising boron and/or carbon and having a thickness of at most 20 nm; and an electrically conductive bar structure on the window layer and in electrical contact with the window layer.

2. The radiation detector according to claim 1, wherein the thickness is at most 5 nm, wherein the bar structure is directly attached to the window layer, and wherein the window layer is without gaps and has an area of at least 1 mm.sup.2.

3. The radiation detector according to claim 1, wherein the window layer is made of graphene.

4. The radiation detector according to claim 1, wherein the window layer is made of borophene.

5. The radiation detector according to claim 1, wherein the bar structure is located on a side of the window layer facing away from the semiconductor body.

6. The radiation detector according to claim 1, wherein the bar structure is located between the semiconductor body and the window layer.

7. The radiation detector according to claim 1, wherein the bar structure comprises a metal grid such that the bar structure includes bars extending transversely to and parallel to each other.

8. The radiation detector according to claim 7, wherein a distance between at least some of the bars is at least 0.1 μm and at most 1 mm, wherein a thickness of the bars is at least 20 nm and at most 200 nm, and wherein a width of the bars is larger than the thickness of the bars by at least a factor of two.

9. The radiation detector according to claim 1, further comprising a dielectric insulation layer located directly between the semiconductor body and the window layer, at least in regions.

10. The radiation detector according to claim 1, wherein the window layer is located directly on the radiation entrance side, at least in regions.

11. The radiation detector according to claim 1, wherein the semiconductor body comprises a p-doped layer at the window layer and an n-doped layer at a side of the p-doped layer facing away from the window layer.

12. The radiation detector according to claim 11, wherein the p-doped layer is a Si layer, wherein the n-doped layer is a Si layer, and wherein the p-doped layer is thinner than the n-doped layer.

13. The radiation detector according to claim 11, wherein the bar structure is electrically connectable independently of the p-doped layer and the n-doped layer such that the window layer and the bar structure form an additional electrode, and wherein the radiation detector further comprises a first electrode at the n-doped layer and a second electrode at the p-doped layer.

14. A method for operating the radiation detector according to claim 13, the method comprising: applying a first voltage at the first electrode; applying a second voltage at the second electrode, the second voltage being smaller than the first voltage; applying a third voltage at the additional electrode for which the following is true: 1.1 V2≤V3≤V2; and detecting low-energy X-ray radiation.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein 1.03 V2≤V3<1.005 V2 applies, and wherein −60 V≤V2≤−120 V and 0.3 V≤|V2−V3|≤3 V.

16. The method according to claim 14, wherein an energy of the X-rays to be detected is between 0.05 keV and 2 keV inclusive.

17. A radiation detector comprising: a semiconductor body configured to detect X-rays having a radiation entrance side; an electrically conductive window layer areally arranged to the radiation entrance side, the window layer comprising boron and/or carbon and having a thickness of at most 20 nm; and an electrically conductive bar structure on the window layer and in electrical contact with the window layer, wherein the semiconductor body is of Si and comprises a p-doped layer at the window layer and an n-doped layer directly at a side of the p-doped layer facing away from the window layer; a first electrode at the n-doped layer and a second electrode at the p-doped layer, wherein the window layer and the bar structure form an additional electrode, wherein the first electrode and the second electrode are configured to lead an electrical charge in the semiconductor body resulting from absorbing the X-rays out of the semiconductor body, and wherein the additional electrode is configured not to be involved in leading the electrical charge in the semiconductor body resulting from absorbing the X-rays out of the semiconductor body; and a dielectric insulation layer located between the semiconductor body and the window layer so that the window layer and the additional electrode are not in direct electrical contact with the semiconductor body.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0049] In the following, a radiation detector described herein and an operating method described herein are explained in more detail with reference to the drawing on the basis of embodiment examples. Identical reference signs indicate identical elements in the individual figures. However, no references are shown to scale; rather, individual elements may be shown exaggeratedly large for better understanding.

[0050] In the figures:

[0051] FIGS. 1 and 2 show schematic cross-sectional views of variations of radiation detectors;

[0052] FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view of an embodiment of a radiation detector described herein;

[0053] FIGS. 4 to 6 are schematic top views of embodiments of radiation detectors described herein;

[0054] FIGS. 7 to 11 are schematic cross-sectional views of embodiments of radiation detectors described herein;

[0055] FIG. 12 is a schematic representation of the penetration depth of X-rays into different materials as a function of photon energy; and

[0056] FIG. 13 is a schematic representation of the transmission of radiation entrance windows of radiation detectors for X-rays as a function of photon energy.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

[0057] FIG. 1 illustrates a variation 9 of a radiation detector. The variation 9 comprises a semiconductor body 2, which is based in particular on Si. At a radiation entrance side 20, the semiconductor body 2 comprises a p-doped layer 22. At a side of the p-doped layer 22 facing away from the radiation entrance side 20, there is an n-doped layer 21. Furthermore, a dielectric insulation layer 5 is provided at the radiation entrance side 20, which is, for example, made of SiO2 and which, for example, has a thickness between 20 nm and 200 nm inclusive.

[0058] A first electrode 61 and a second electrode 62, to which voltages V1, V2 are applied, are located on the layers 21, 22.

[0059] During operation of the variation 9, X-ray radiation X enters the semiconductor body 2 through the radiation entrance side 20.

[0060] Thus, the variation 9 according to FIG. 1 has an oxide entrance window 5. Due to the oxide layer 5, surface states on the semiconductor body 5 are saturated, which is why secondary electrons caused by the X-rays X are absorbed less compared to a non-passivated or metal-passivated Si surface. This results in a good low energy performance of variation 9 in combination with a high transmission for the X-rays X. However, the effect strongly depends on the oxide quality, which is why the performance deteriorates with increasing irradiation. In addition, this variation 9 has a relatively low beam hardness. That is, at high cumulative radiation doses, sensitivity and/or lifetime of this variation 9 decreases significantly.

[0061] Compared to FIG. 1, variation 9 according to FIG. 2 additionally has a metal layer 7 on the insulation layer 5, which is connected to a further electrode 73. A voltage V3, which is more negative than the voltage V2, is applied to the further electrode 73.

[0062] This combination of insulation layer 5 and metal layer 7 on the semiconductor body 2 is also referred to as MOS entrance window, where MOS stands for metal-oxide-semiconductor. The metal layer 7 is, for example, made of aluminum with a thickness of, for example, 40 nm. The more negative voltage V3 at the metal layer 7 pushes the electrons caused by the X-rays X into the semiconductor body 2, thereby very effectively preventing absorption of these secondary charge carriers. This effect is relatively independent of the oxide quality, which is why this configuration is significantly more radiation-hardened. However, the additional metal layer 7 absorbs a comparatively large fraction of the incident X-rays, resulting in poorer low-energy performance. The operation of such a variation can be found, for example, in more detail in German Patent DE 10 2012 012 296 B4, which patent, in particular paragraphs 11, 12, 15, 30 and 38 to 40, is hereby incorporated herein by reference.

[0063] In particular, one goal of a radiation detector 1 described here is to achieve a combination of the advantages of both variations 9 of FIGS. 1 and 2. For this purpose, the transmission of the metal layer 7 in the MOS configuration of FIG. 2 is to be increased.

[0064] In the example of the radiation detector 1 shown in FIG. 3, the metal layer 7 is replaced by a window layer 3 together with a bar structure 4, also referred to as ridge structure. The window layer 3 and the bar structure 4 together form at least part of an additional electrode 43 to which the voltage V3 can be applied.

[0065] The window layer 3 is, for example, a graphene layer or a borophene layer with a thickness T of at most 20 nm, in the case of graphene preferably between 2 nm and 15 nm or between 2 nm and 5 nm, in the case of borophene there may be few monolayers, like at most 10 or at most 5 monolayers. Directly applied to the window layer 3 is the bar structure 4, which is, for example, made of aluminum and in particular has a thickness S between 30 nm and 50 nm. A distance D between adjacent bars 42 of a metal grid 41, which can form the bar structure 4, is, for example, between 3 μm and 30 μm. A width W of the bars 41 is, for example, between 1 μm and 5 μm.

[0066] For example, the voltage V1 at the first electrode 61 is 0 V when the radiation detector 1 is in operation, and the voltage V2 at the second electrode 62 is between −60 V and

[0067] −80 V, for example. The voltage V3 at the additional electrode 43 is slightly more negative than the voltage V2. Since the additional electrode 43 is preferably not configured for signal evaluation, no or only small currents flow in the additional electrode 43 as intended.

[0068] FIGS. 4 to 6 show exemplary top views of the bar structure 4. Referring to FIG. 4, the metal grid 41 has a plurality of the bars 42 intersecting at right angles. The bars 42 define, for example, square or rectangular meshes within which the window layer 3 can be exposed. The metal grid 41 may have the same mesh constant and/or thickness throughout the radiation entrance side 20. As an alternative to a square lattice or rectangular lattice, a particularly regular hexagonal metal grid 41 may also be present, in deviation from the illustration in FIG. 4. A diameter of the radiation entrance side 20 is, for example, between 1 mm and 10 mm.

[0069] FIG. 5 shows that the metal grid 41 is formed by parallel bars 42. Thus, there are no intersecting bars 42, unlike in FIG. 4.

[0070] According to FIG. 6, only two of the bars 42 are present, crossing each other and forming the metal grid 41. In deviation from the illustration in FIG. 6, it is also possible that only a single bar 42 is present.

[0071] According to FIGS. 4 to 6, the bars 42 each run straight. In deviation from this, curved bars 42 or bars 42 with kinks can also be present.

[0072] Furthermore, according to FIGS. 4 to 6, a frame 44 is optionally provided in each case. For example, the frame 44 circumscribes the radiation entrance side 20 in a circular manner or, differently than drawn, also as a polygon. The frame 44 can electrically connect the individual bars 42 to one another. It is possible that the frame 44 serves as the contact point of the additional electrode 43. For example, the frame 44 is made of the same material as the bars 42 and the frame 44 may have the same thickness S as the bars 42 or may have a greater thickness.

[0073] The full-surface metal layer 7 made of aluminum as shown in FIG. 2 is thus replaced in the radiation detector 1 described here by the full-surface, ultra-thin graphene layer or borophene layer with a thickness T of a few nm with the best possible conductivity. On this graphene layer or borophene layer, the metal support bar structure 4 is applied for better potential distribution. A lattice constant of the electrical support bar structure 4 is chosen as large as possible. The lattice constant results from a sheet resistance and a leakage current between the two potentials.

[0074] In all other respects, the comments on FIGS. 1 and 2 apply in the same way to FIGS. 3 to 6.

[0075] In the example of FIG. 7, it is shown that the bar structure 4 can project laterally beyond the insulation layer 5 and can be in contact with the p-doped semiconductor layer 22. In this case, V3=V2 is then valid. This configuration is also possible in all other exemplary embodiments and already achieves an improvement with respect to the desired functionality. However, the configuration of FIG. 3 is preferred, according to which V3 can be set independently of V2.

[0076] The radiation detector 1 of FIG. 8 comprises an intermediate layer 8 at the radiation entrance side 20. The intermediate layer 8 is, for example, made of electrically insulating SiC. This SiC layer 8 can optionally be formed in situ during the graphene deposition process for the window layer 3 at an appropriate deposition temperature.

[0077] According to FIG. 9, there is no insulation layer 5. The window layer 3, which is made of graphene, for example, thus lies directly on the radiation entrance side 20 of the semiconductor body 2. Surface states are saturated by means of the window layer 3 or accumulating charge carriers can be additionally transported away via the conductive window layer.

[0078] Optionally, the semiconductor layer 22 comprises a plurality of sublayers at the radiation entrance side 20. The semiconductor layer 22 can thus be composed of several sublayers, each of which can be made of appropriately doped Si, for example. In this way, it can be achieved that a p-doping in the charge carrier-depleted silicon successively decreases inwardly so that an electric field is always directed into the detector volume and the generated charge carriers are driven toward the anode. This can apply accordingly in all other examples.

[0079] In the example of FIG. 10, it is shown that the bar structure 4 is applied directly to the radiation entrance side 20. The window layer 3 is then applied over the entire surface of the radiation entrance side 20, for example, so that the window layer 3 can partially or completely cover the bar structure 4, see FIG. 10, left side. Alternatively, the window layer 3 can be limited to areas between the bars 42, see FIG. 10, right side.

[0080] According to FIG. 11, a space charge region 23 is formed between the semiconductor layers 21, 22 during operation, caused by the voltages V1 and V2. The additional electrode 43 can be connected separately from the second electrode 62. The second electrode 62 is, for example, a metallic ring electrode around the radiation entrance side 20. The first electrode 61 may be a flat metal layer on a side of the semiconductor layer 21 facing away from the radiation entrance side 20.

[0081] Optionally, the semiconductor body 2 comprises a further n-doped layer 24. The layer 24 is preferably more weakly doped than the layer 21. The space charge region 23 may be formed in the further layer 24.

[0082] In all other respects, the comments on FIGS. 1 to 6 apply in the same way to FIGS. 7 to 11, and vice versa.

[0083] In another category of examples of the radiation detector 1, no window layer 3 is present. In this case, a bar structure 4 without a window layer is then present, for example, aluminum bars 42 in particular directly on the semiconductor body 2, especially directly on p-doped silicon. Such radiation detectors 1 also bring an improvement with regard to transmission. This applies in particular to small distances between adjacent bars 42 of, for example, at most 0.2 mm or at most 0.1 mm or at most 30 μm. For such radiation detectors 1 without a window layer, the explanations of FIGS. 1 to 11 apply in all other respects in the same way.

[0084] FIG. 12 shows penetration depths L, also referred to as attenuation length, for various materials as a function of photon energy Ep. In particular, it can be seen that graphene, Gr, and borophene, Bo, exhibit a significantly greater penetration depth L and thus higher transmission for incident radiation in the low-energy range at photon energies Ep around 200 eV than aluminum, Al, and silicon oxide, SiO2. In addition, the layers can be formed much thinner, which further improves the transmission.

[0085] FIG. 13 shows a transmission Tx of an additional electrode described here with a 10 nm thick graphene window 3 and a 40 nm thick aluminum bar structure 4, with a metal grid as shown in FIG. 4 with bar widths D of 2 μm and bar spacings D of 10 μm. It can be seen that, compared to a flat metal layer 7 made of 40 nm thick aluminum, the transmission Tx is significantly increased by several tens of percentage points, particularly in the spectral range below 300 eV, for a radiation detector 1 described here, corresponding to a transmission gain ΔT.

[0086] Furthermore, the energies of characteristic X-ray emission lines Kα are listed for several elements E in FIG. 13. In the context of material analysis based on the characteristic X-ray emission of elements in methods such as EDX (energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy), XRF (X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy) or PIXE (particle-induced X-ray emission), the photon energy range from 50 eV to a few 10 keV, corresponding to wavelengths from 25 nm to about 10 μm, is of interest. Therefore, the term ‘transmission Tx’ refers especially to this energy range and here again specifically to the low-energy part from 50 eV to 2 keV. The table in FIG. 13 shows the energies of the Kα lines of the lightest elements. These energies are to be verified for element determination.

[0087] Since the window 3, 4 described here has an increased transmission Tx in the low-energy spectral range, the detection sensitivity in this spectral range is increased.

[0088] The components shown in the figures preferably follow one another in the sequence indicated, in particular directly one after the other, unless otherwise described. Components not touching each other in the figures are preferably spaced apart. Insofar as lines are drawn parallel to one another, the associated surfaces are preferably likewise aligned parallel to one another. Furthermore, the relative positions of the drawn components to each other are correctly reproduced in the figures, unless otherwise specified.

[0089] The invention described herein is not limited by the description based on the embodiments. Rather, the invention encompasses any new feature as well as any combination of features, which in particular includes any combination of features in the patent claims, even if this feature or combination itself is not explicitly stated in the patent claims or embodiments.

[0090] This patent application claims the priority of German patent application 10 2022 104 133.6, the disclosure content of which is hereby incorporated by reference.