SOI thin microdosimeter detectors for low-energy ions and radiation damage studies

The responses of two silicon on insulator (SOI) 3-D microdosimeters developed by the Centre for Medical Radiation Physics were investigated with a range of different low energy ions, with high linear energy transfer (LET). The two microdosimeters n-SOI and p-SOI were able to measure the LET of different ions including ⁷Li, ¹²C, ¹⁶O, and ⁴⁸Ti with ranges below 350μm in silicon. No plasma effects were seen in the SOI microdosimeters when irradiated with the high LET ions. A Monte Carlo simulation using Geant4 was compared to the experimental measurements, whereby some discrepancies were observed for heavier ions at lower energies. This discrepancy can be partly attributed to uncertainties in the thickness of the energy degraders and overlayers of the devices. The microdosimetric measurements of low energy ¹⁶O ions were obtained and compared to a therapeutic ¹⁶O ion beam. The radiation hardness of the two devices was studied using the ion beam induced charge collection technique. Both types of the microdosimeters when biased had no essential changes in charge collection efficiency in the sensitive volume after irradiation with low energy ions.