New radiation sensors based on SRO/Si junction

Silicon rich oxide (SRO), or off stoichiometry silicon oxide, has been studied from several perspectives. The SRO is a double phase material formed by silicon islands embedded in a SiO/sub 2/ matrix, whose final characteristics are related to the silicon excess. The silicon excess is determined by the gas precursor ratio, Ro. For Ro higher than 50 a stoichiometric oxide is obtained, while for Ro=3 the excess silicon is around 17%. SRO can also be obtained by silicon implantation into thermal silicon oxide. We have studied the electronic behavior of the Al/SRO/Si structure. With this knowledge, we have proposed new radiation sensors that use the SRO/Si junction. In this paper, we present some details and experimental results of such devices.