Comparison of 10 MeV Neutron Irradiation Effects on NiO/Ga₂O₃ Heterojunction Rectifiers and Ni/Au/Ga₂O₃ Schottky Rectifiers

Neutrons generated through charge-exchange Be-9 (p; n(i)) Be-9 reactions, with energies ranging from 0-33 MeV and an average energy of & SIM;9.8 MeV were used to irradiate conventional Schottky Ga2O3 rectifiers and NiO/Ga2O3 p-n heterojunction rectifiers to fluences of 1.1-2.2 x 10(14) cm(-2). The breakdown voltage was improved after irradiation for the Schottky rectifiers but was highly degraded for their NiO/Ga2O3 counterparts. This may be a result of extended defect zones within the NiO. After irradiation, the switching characteristics were degraded and irradiated samples of both types could not survive switching above 0.7 A or 400 V, whereas reference samples were robust to 1 A and 1 kV. The carrier removal rate in both types of devices was & SIM;45 cm(-1). The forward currents and on-state resistances were only slightly degraded by neutron irradiation.