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Veronika Kraus

Publications and source records attributed to Veronika Kraus.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

Characterization of p-stop isolation implants in silicon sensors using MOSFET structures

Metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) test structures are investigated to characterize p-stop isolation implants between n-type electrodes in p-type silicon sensors. The device transfer characteristics are measured as a function of the voltage applied to the backside to extract the threshold voltage, which quantifies inter-electrode isolation, and the field-dependent mobility parameters. We present a methodology to reconstruct depth-dependent doping profiles from the threshold voltage characteristics, accounting for the localized space-charge effects and electric-field screening induced by the p-stop implants. The study evaluates the sensitivity of this technique to various p-stop geometries and doping concentrations across different wafer types. The results demonstrate the potential of MOSFET-based structures as a non-destructive diagnostic for monitoring p-stop consistency and inter-electrode isolation properties in silicon detectors.

physics.ins-det

Proton Energy Dependence of Radiation Induced Low Gain Avalanche Detector Degradation

Low Gain Avalanche Detectors (LGADs) are key components for precise timing measurements in high-energy physics experiments, including the High Luminosity upgrades of the current LHC detectors. Their performance is, however, limited by radiation induced degradation of the gain layer, primarily driven by acceptor removal. This study presents a systematic comparison of how the degradation evolves with different incident proton energies, using LGADs from Hamamatsu Photonics (HPK) and The Institute of Microelectronics of Barcelona (IMB-CNM) irradiated with 18 MeV, 24 MeV, 400 MeV and 23 GeV protons and fluences up to 2.5x10^15 p/cm2. Electrical characterization is used to extract the acceptor removal coefficients for different proton energies, whereas IR TCT measurements offer complementary insight into the gain evolution in LGADs after irradiation. Across all devices, lower energy protons induce stronger gain layer degradation, confirming expectations. However, 400 MeV protons consistently appear less damaging than both lower and higher energy protons, an unexpected deviation from a monotonic energy trend. Conversion of proton fluences to 1 MeV neutron-equivalent fluences reduces but does not eliminate these differences, indicating that the standard Non-Ionizing Energy Loss (NIEL) scaling does not fully account for the underlying defect formation mechanisms at different energies and requires revision when considering irradiation fields that contain a broader spectrum of particle types and energies.

physics.ins-det

Studies on the effect of low-fluence proton and neutron irradiation on n-type LGADs

The presented study investigates the effects of low fluences from $5\times10^{12}$ up to $1\times10^{14}$ particles/cm$^{2}$ of 60MeV proton and neutron irradiation on n-type Low Gain Avalanche Detectors (nLGADs). An nLGAD is a silicon sensor with a highly doped gain layer that enables controlled charge multiplication via impact ionization. In contrast to the well-established p-type LGADs for high-energy physics (HEP) applications, nLGADs are optimized for the detection of low-penetrating particles such as UV photons and soft X-rays. In addition to studying their potential application in environments with radiation backgrounds, these novel devices also enable the exploration of the underlying phenomenology arising from the combination of n-type bulk material with a gain layer, which degradation was previously studied predominantly in the context of p-type LGADs. The irradiation effects were characterized through measurements of the leakage current and capacitance with increasing bias voltage (I-V and C-V), revealing systematic and fluence-dependent behavior related to space charge sign inversion (SCSI) of the n-type bulk material, which especially alters the electric field in the sensor and thus the depletion behavior. Additionally, annealing studies were performed to assess both beneficial and reverse annealing regimes with isothermal and isochronal annealing. The findings are consistent with previous high-energy proton studies and contribute to a deeper understanding of the fundamental behavior of nLGADs under irradiation.

physics.ins-det

Investigating irradiation effects and space charge sign inversion in n-type Low Gain Avalanche Detectors

Low Gain Avalanche Detectors built on n-type substrate (nLGADs) have been developed by IMB-CNM to enhance the detection of low-penetrating particles, with a wide range of applications from medicine, industry to synergies with developments for high-energy physics (HEP). In this work, irradiation effects on nLGADs were investigated through proton irradiation at the CERN PS-IRRAD facility up to proton fluences of $10^{14}\,\mathrm{cm}^{-2}$. Electrical characterization before and after irradiation reveals space charge sign inversion of the n-type bulk, leading to significant modifications in the depletion behavior and electric field distribution. Utilizing UV TCT and TPA-TCT measurements, the impact of irradiation on the electric fields and the gain are studied in more detail, confirming a change of sensor depletion and a reduced electric field in the gain layer. The results suggest that donor removal in nLGADs is stronger pronounced already at lower fluences compared to acceptor removal in traditional p-type LGADs. These findings provide not only first insights into the effects of irradiation on nLGADs but also contribute to the development of methods to quantify the donor removal.

physics.ins-det

Asymptotic study of subcritical graph classes

We present a unified general method for the asymptotic study of graphs from the so-called "subcritical"$ $ graph classes, which include the classes of cacti graphs, outerplanar graphs, and series-parallel graphs. This general method works both in the labelled and unlabelled framework. The main results concern the asymptotic enumeration and the limit laws of properties of random graphs chosen from subcritical classes. We show that the number $g_n/n!$ (resp. $g_n$) of labelled (resp. unlabelled) graphs on $n$ vertices from a subcritical graph class ${G}=\cup_n {G_n}$ satisfies asymptotically the universal behaviour $$ g_n = c n^{-5/2} γ^n (1+o(1)) $$ for computable constants $c,γ$, e.g. $γ\approx 9.38527$ for unlabelled series-parallel graphs, and that the number of vertices of degree $k$ ($k$ fixed) in a graph chosen uniformly at random from $G_n$, converges (after rescaling) to a normal law as $n\to\infty$.

math.CO

The relation between tree size complexity and probability for Boolean functions generated by uniform random trees

We consider a probability distribution on the set of Boolean functions in n variables which is induced by random Boolean expressions. Such an expression is a random rooted plane tree where the internal vertices are labelled with connectives And and OR and the leaves are labelled with variables or negated variables. We study limiting distribution when the tree size tends to infinity and derive a relation between the tree size complexity and the probability of a function. This is done by first expressing trees representing a particular function as expansions of minimal trees representing this function and then computing the probabilities by means of combinatorial counting arguments relying on generating functions and singularity analysis.

math.CO

Associative and commutative tree representations for Boolean functions

Since the 90's, several authors have studied a probability distribution on the set of Boolean functions on $n$ variables induced by some probability distributions on formulas built upon the connectors $And$ and $Or$ and the literals $\{x_{1}, \bar{x}_{1}, \dots, x_{n}, \bar{x}_{n}\}$. These formulas rely on plane binary labelled trees, known as Catalan trees. We extend all the results, in particular the relation between the probability and the complexity of a Boolean function, to other models of formulas: non-binary or non-plane labelled trees (i.e. Polya trees). This includes the natural tree class where associativity and commutativity of the connectors $And$ and $Or$ are realised.

math.CO

The degree profile of Pólya trees

We investigate the profile of random Pólya trees of size $n$ when only nodes of degree $d$ are counted in each level. It is shown that, as in the case where all nodes contribute to the profile, the suitably normalized profile process converges weakly to a Brownian excursion local time. Moreover, we investigate the joint distribution of the number of nodes of degree $d_1$ and $d_2$ in the levels of the tree.

math.CO