SEMICONDUCTOR DRIFT DETECTOR WITH OPTIMIZED EFFECTIVE AREA

Semiconductor Drift Detector (SDD) for X- and γ-spectroscopy (by coupling to a scintillator crystal) having optimized effective area. Compared to the existing solutions, the introduction of an electric field symmetrization region enables to make up for the inefficiency at the edge of the detectors, of any geometry and size, obtaining efficiency values close to 100%, instead of the typical values of about 70%, and maintaining compatibility with the power supply of the detector from the anode side only.

How does it work?

The growing technological progress and the application needs in the scientific and industrial fields are favouring the increased use of top-quality silicon drift chambers and integrated ultra-low noise front-end electronics. In addition, there is a clear trend towards the creation of multi-channel measurement systems in order to meet the increasingly pressing demands for higher sensitivity (i.e. an increase in the overall active area of the sensor) and high throughput (subdivision of the active area into smaller cells).

The invention aims to maximize the effective area of spectroscopic SDDs, of any geometric shape, and to make peripheral cells of monolithic matrices equivalent to the internal ones. The invention could be exploited in a variety of production processes, as it dispenses not only with the silicon technology used to make SDDs, but also with the semiconductor material at the base of the product.

Applications

• Analysis of materials for industrial and biomedical applications;
• Analysis of artefacts in the field of cultural heritage;
• Analysis of food contamination or environmental contamination;
• Mineral exploration;
• Airport security.

Advantages

• Maximised effective detection area;
• Creation of optimized monolithic matrices of any size and shape;
• Less collimation to eliminate edge effects;
• Compatible with power supply from the anode side only.