Gamma non-ionizing energy loss: Comparison with the damage factor in silicon devices

The concept of non-ionizing energy loss (NIEL) has been demonstrated to be a successful approach to describe the displacement damage effects in silicon materials and devices. However, some discrepancies exist in the literature between experimental damage factors and theoretical NIELs. Co-60 gamma rays having a low NIEL are an interesting particle source that can be used to validate the NIEL scaling approach. This paper presents different Co-60 gamma ray NIEL values for silicon targets. They are compared with the radiation-induced increase in the thermal generation rate of carriers per unit fluence. The differences between the different models, including one using molecular dynamics, are discussed. Published by AIP Publishing.