A comparative study of silicon detector degradation under irradiation by heavy ions and relativistic protons

Silicon detectors irradiated by 40Ar ions with the energy of 1.62 GeV were studied with the goal to find the parameters of radiation damage induced by ions. The measurements of the I–V characteristics, temperature dependences of the detector bulk current, deep level spectra and current pulse response were carried out for detectors irradiated within the fluence range 5×1010–2.3×1013 ion/cm2 and the obtained results were compared with the corresponding data for detectors irradiated by 23 GeV protons. It is shown that the processes of defect introduction by ions and overall radiation damage are similar to those induced by 23 GeV protons, while the introduction rates of radiation defects and current generation centers are about ten times higher for irradiation by 40Ar ions. The fact that these processes have much in common gives grounds to use the physical models and characteristic parametrization such as those developed earlier for detectors irradiated by protons and neutrons to build the long-term scenario of Si detector operation in the Time-Of-Flight diagnostic system of Super FRagment Separator designed at GSI for the future Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research, FAIR.