Comparison of 14 MeV neutron-induced and 1 MeV electron-induced radiation damage in crystalline silicon

A comparative study is made on the radiation damage caused by 14 MeV neutrons and 1 MeV electrons in crystalline silicon by measuring Hall mobility, carrier concentration, energies of defect centres and minority carrier lifetime. For both electrons and neutrons the energies of defect centres are found to be almost identical but the observed degradation in Hall mobility is large in neutron-irradiated and marginal in electron-irradiated silicon. The coefficient of radiation damage for 14 MeV neutrons is higher by almost three orders of magnitude compared with that for 1 MeV electrons. (author)