Radiation Resistant Quench Protection Diodes for the LHC

Abstract

The quench protection diodes for the proposed Large Hadron Collider at CERN will be located inside the He-II vessel of the short straight section of one half cell, where they could be exposed to a radiation dose of about 50 kGy and a total neutron fluence of about 10¹⁵ n/cm² over 10 years at temperatures of about 2 K. To investigate the influence of irradiation on the electrical characteristics of the diodes, newly developed diodes of thin base region of the diffusion type and of the epitaxial type have been submitted to irradiation tests at liquid nitrogen temperature in a target area of the SPS accelerator at CERN. The degradation of the electrical characteristics of the diodes for a radiation dose up to about 20 kGy and neutron fluence of up to about 510¹⁴ n/cm² and the effect of carrier injection and thermal annealing after irradiation have been measured. The test results show that only the thin base diodes of the epitaxial type are really radiation resistant. A compromise must be found between required blocking characteristics and radiation resistance. Annealing by carrier injection and occasional warm up to room temperature can extend the service life of irradiated diodes quite substantially.