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  • Author or Editor: M. Amman x
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Summary  

The successful development of lithium-drifted Ge detectors in the 1960s marked the beginning of the significant use of semiconductor crystals for direct detection and spectroscopy of gamma-rays. In the 1970s, high-purity Ge became available, which enabled the production of complex detectors and multi-detector systems. In the following decades, the technology of semiconductor gamma-ray detectors continued to advance, with significant developments not only in Ge detectors but also in Si detectors and room-temperature compound-semiconductor detectors. In recent years, our group at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has developed a variety of gamma-ray detectors based on these semiconductor materials. Examples include Ge strip detectors, lithium-drifted Si strip detectors, and coplanar-grid CdZnTe detectors. These advances provide new capabilities in the measurement of gamma-rays, such as the ability to perform imaging and the realization of highly compact spectroscopy systems.

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Abstract  

A physics-based approach to gamma-ray response-function generation is presented in which the response of CdZnTe detectors is modeled from first principles. Numerical modeling is used to generate response functions needed for spectrum analysis for general detector configurations (e.g., electrode design, detector materials and geometry, and operating conditions). With numerical modeling, requirements for calibration and characterization are significantly reduced. Elements of the physics-based model, including gamma-ray transport, charge carrier drift and diffusion, and circuit response, are presented. Calculated and experimental gamma-ray spectra are compared for a coplanar-grid CdZnTe detector.

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