Alex Stewart博士讲座CdTe physics3.docVIP

CDTE CHARACTERISTICS UNDER INTENSE RADIATION Table of contents 1 Purpose and Scope 3 2 Density of states 3 3 Photonic electron hole generations 3 4 e – h Concentration at steady state 4 5 Distortion of the electric field 5 6 Dead layer appearance 5 7 Charge collection efficiency 6 8 Poisson distribution 8 9 Conclusions 8 10 References 9 11 Definition of Abbreviations and/or Terms 9 12 History 9  Purpose and Scope CdTe is known to be used as an x-ray detector, especially in the high energy range (~150 keV) due to its high efficiency to absorb radiation and convert it to electric signals. It has also a good sensitivity and energy resolution which are strong arguments to use CdTe in photon counting x-ray detectors. Some of the ideas are to use this kind of photon counting detector in a Mammo CT and in a Mammo 3T applications which require both high sensitivity and manage high flux situations. A photon counting detector of CdTe is ideal due to its high efficiency and its high dynamic range. It has only an upper limit which is limited by the ASIC or the conversion media. This document reports the characteristics for CdTe under intense irradiation. Density of states In metals the conduction electrons and holes are normally localized at the Fermi energy. In a semiconductor electron states are missing at the Fermi energy which reminds of a bad insulator. The band gap is 1.44 eV and is low enough such that finite temperatures excites electrons in the valence bands up to the conduction band which results in conduction electrons in the conduction band and conduction holes in the valence band. The number of available states in CdTe is of the order 1017 cm-3 and the number of thermally excited electrons is of the order 107 cm-3. The thermally excited electrons and holes are the carriers that give the semiconductor a finite resistivity of the order 109 (cm. Figure. Density of states in a metal, insulator, and a semiconductor. Red colored area are the filled states and the