Radiation hardness of amorphous silicon particle sensors

Radiation tests of 32 lm thick hydrogenated amorphous silicon n–i–p diodes have been performed using a high-energy 24 GeV proton beam up to fluences of 2 · 10 protons/cm. The results are compared to irradiation of similar 1 lm and 32 lm thick n–i–p diodes using a proton beam of 405 keV at a fluence of 3 · 10 protons/cm. All samples exhibited a drop of the photoconductivity and an increase in the dark leakage current under both highand low-energy proton irradiation. An almost full recovery of the device performance was observed after a subsequent thermal annealing. 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. PACS: 29.40.Wk; 61.82.Fk; 73.61.Jc