Deep levels in CVD diamond and their influence on the electronic properties of diamond-based radiation sensors

Deep levels in undoped chemical vapor deposited (CVD) diamond films have been characterized by thermally stimulated current spectroscopy (TSC) in the range of 300-650 K. The TSC results have been tentatively correlated to the performance of the samples as on-line dosimeters and particle detectors. The TSC signal is dominated by a set of deep levels with an activation energy in the range of 1.0-1.4 eV. The trapping activity of these levels, which can be related to grain boundaries, strongly influences the detector performance at room temperature. After neutron irradiation up to the fluence of 2 x 10(15) n/cm(2) the amplitude of the TSC signal decreases of about one order of magnitude, the pumping effect becomes significantly less pronounced and the charge collection efficiency decreases of about 30%. Thus, the radiation-induced removal of these deep levels must be accompanied by the creation of other traps, probably vacancy-related and not visible by TSC in this temperature range, which have little effect on the dynamic response of the device but can affect the charge collection efficiency.