Present status and prospects of R&D of radiation-resistant semiconductor devices at JAEA

Ito, Hisayoshi

Research and development of radiation resistant semiconductor devices have been performed at Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) for their application to electronic system used in harsh environments like space, accelerator and nuclear facilities. Such devices are also indispensable for robots and equipment necessary for decommissioning of the damaged reactors at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plants. For this purpose, we have fabricated transistors based on a wide band-gap semiconductor SiC and examined their radiation degradation. As a result, SiC-based transistors exhibited no significant degradation up to 1MGy, indicating their excellent radiation resistance. Recent our R&Ds of radiation resistant devices based on SiC are summarized and reviewed.