Development of InSb Semiconductor Detector for High Resolution Radiation Measurement

Abstract

Indium Antimonide (InSb) has possibility to be developed as the next generation radiation detector due to its small energy bandgap and high electron mobility. In general, the InSb crystal has been used for infrared applications, and a studies to grow the InSb crystal for the radiation detector application are rare. The dependency of the crystal growth speed on the crystal quality was studied in the present work. The InSb crystal was grown using the Bridgman method at various crystal growth speeds. The grown crystal was cut into 2-mm-thick wafers, and the defects in the lattice structure of the crystal were analyzed with X-Ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infraRed spectroscopy (FT-IR). The wafer was made into a Schottky-type diode, and the I-V curves were measured at various temperatures. An InSb detector was also made with a commercial InSb wafer, and the crystal characteristics were measured and compared with the grown one. Our work could be helpful in developing an InSb radiation detector.