Epitaxial SiC Dosimeters and Flux Monitoring Detectors for Proton Therapy Beams

The exceptional optoelectronic properties and high radiation resistance of epitaxial silicon carbide make this material attractive for high-energy beam dosimetry and radiation monitoring, especially when strict requirements such as high signal-to-noise ratios, high time and spatial resolutions and low detectivity levels are required. A 4H-SiC Schottky diode has been characterized as a proton-flux-monitoring detector and dosimeter under proton beams for proton therapy. The diode was composed of an epitaxial film grown on 4H-SiC n(+)-type substrate equipped with a gold Schottky contact. The diode was embedded in a tissue-equivalent epoxy resin and then characterized in terms of capacitance vs. voltage (C-V) and current vs. voltage (I-V) characteristics in the dark in the range of 0-40 V. The dark currents at room temperature are in the order of 1 pA, while the doping and active thicknesses extracted from the C-V are 2.5 x 10(15) cm(-3) and 2-4 mu m, respectively. Proton beam tests have been carried out at the Proton Therapy Center of the Trento Institute for Fundamental Physics and Applications (TIFPA-INFN). They have been carried out with energies and extraction currents of 83-220 MeV and 1-10 nA, respectively, as typical for proton therapy applications, corresponding to dose rates in the range of 5 mGy/s to 2.7 Gy/s. The I-V characteristics measured under proton beam irradiation at the lowest dose rate showed a typical diode photocurrent response and a signal-to-noise ratio well above 10. Investigations with null bias evidenced a very good performance in terms of the diode's sensitivity, fast rise and decay times and response stability. The diode's sensitivity was in agreement with the expected theoretical values, and its response was linear throughout the whole investigated dose rate range.