Investigation of radiation response for III-V binary compound semiconductors due to protons using Geant4

The III-V binary compound semiconductor is considered to be an appealing candidate for future complementary metal oxide semiconductor applications and the most promising silicon substitute in terms of high electron mobility. In this study, the authors used the Monte Carlo simulation software Geant4 and the data analysis tool Python to comprehensively examine the interaction between protons with a wide range of energy and III-V binary compound semiconductors. This work focus on the radiation responses of 11 kinds of III-V materials—AlAs, AlP, AlSb, GaAs, GaN, GaP, GaSb, InAs, InN, InP, and InSb—with silicon as a reference. Energy straggling, secondary ion generation, and energy distribution in the sensitive layer were represented in each simulation of the incident protons. Information about the distributions of the linear energy transfer of the secondary ions and energy deposition was acquired through data analysis. Finally, the impact of the material species on the single-event upset responses triggered by the direct ionization and the nuclear reaction mechanisms at different critical charges were investigated.