Nuclear spectroscopy with Si PIN diode detectors at room temperature

doi:10.1016/0168-9002(90)90776-3

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment

Volume 299, Issues 1–3, 20 December 1990, Pages 201-204

https://doi.org/10.1016/0168-9002(90)90776-3 Get rights and content

Abstract

The characteristics of PIN diodes have been determined. These diodes have lower leakage currents and noise than other types of Si radiation detectors. The energy resolutions (FWHM) of a 1 cm² × 0.5 mm PIN diode measured with a pulser, 122.0 keV gamma-rays, 193 keV electrons and 5.5 MeV alpha-particles were 2.6, 2.8, 2.9 and 11.0 keV, respectively. For a 6 mm × 6 mm × 0.2 mm PIN diode, the resolutions (FWHM) for a pulser, 60 keV γ-rays, 193 keV electrons and 5.5-Mev α-particles were 2.1, 2.2, 2.4 and 10.8 keV, respectively.

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Several protocols are followed in the manufacture, storage, and use of electronic devices to minimize the effects of harsh environmental conditions such as high relative humidity (RH) and high temperature. A systematic study is presented in this report on the current–voltage (I–V) characteristics of commercial silicon (Si) PIN diodes to elucidate their response in ambient and controlled humidity conditions for ambient stored (pre-heated) and diodes heat-treated at 100 °C (post-heated). Upon successive measurements in ambient conditions, the reverse current ( $I_{R}$ ) in the pre-heated diode increased from the nA to $μ$ A range and showed no reproducibility. An increase in $I_{R}$ is also accompanied by a decrease in surface breakdown voltage ( $V_{S B}$ ) with an increase in RH. The $I_{R}$ vs RH response showed a power-law dependence with a crossover from a sub-linear to super-linear behavior at a critical RH ( $R H_{C}$ ), pointing to two distinct adsorption modes. The $R H_{C}$ increased from 42% for the pre-heated diode to 72% for the post-heated diode highlighting the role of pre-adsorbed moisture accumulated on the ambient stored diode. The effect of pre-adsorbed moisture is also corroborated by contact angle measurements.
A low-cost small-size commercial PIN photodiode: I. Electrical characterisation and low-energy photon spectrometry
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Citation Excerpt :
Tests of devices manufactured with semiconductors different from silicon, which is still the most common case, have also been reported by Zhao et al. (2016, 2018) (see the other publications cited therein as well). Custom-made detectors have been employed by Ahmad et al. (1990), Lee et al. (2016), and Wall et al. (2014): the last example, from the large collaboration KATRIN (KArlsruhe TRItium Neutrino), adopts a complex design with segmented pixels. Here the focus is on very common silicon photodiodes repurposed as particle detectors, because they are easily available in large quantities and at low prices from retailers of electronic components.
Silicon PIN (p-type-intrinsic-n-type) photodiodes are well suited as particle detectors. Here the interest is on a low-cost solution by repurposing a commercial device meant to be used as a light sensor. The intended application is to measure the energy spectra of electrons scattered by thin metallic foils covering small angles close to the beam of the accelerator. The main requirements for a suitable device are: 1) a low-cost solution to allow frequent replacements; 2) a small size to avoid as much as possible an unused area that contributes with unnecessary capacitance; 3) a good energy resolution; and 4) an easy repurposing as a charged-particle detector. The photodiode type BPX 65 manufactured by Osram® fulfils well these requirements. Four samples of these commercial devices have been electrically characterised with respect to reverse current and depleted-region capacitance. At the selected working point of 18 V, comfortably below the maximum rating of 20 V recommended by the manufacturer for continuous operation, the total thickness of the depleted and intrinsic regions is estimated to be $(60 \pm 3)$ μm. For the four samples considered, the measured reverse currents for a reverse bias of 18 V are around 0.1 nA, well below the typical value specified by the manufacturer (1 nA). To evaluate the performance of the device as a detector, energy spectra have been acquired for γ-rays with energies from 10 to 140 keV using ²⁴¹Am, ¹³³Ba, and ⁵⁷Co radioactive sources. The resolution of the BPX 65 encountered with the γ-rays emitted by ²⁴¹Am at 59.5-keV is $\approx 2.5$ keV (FWHM - Full Width at Half Maximum), which is close to the value obtained with a pulser, showing that its main limitation is the electronic chain employed in the setup. The response function to monoenergetic electrons in the same energy range is studied in the companion paper.
Room-temperature electron spectroscopy of <sup>239</sup>Pu and <sup>240</sup>Pu
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Passivated, implanted, planar silicon (PIPS) detectors have been used for the measurement of electron spectra. The commercially available PIPS detectors, available in thicknesses of 100 μm, 300 μm, and 500 μm, have an energy resolution (FWHM) of $~ 2.2 keV$ , which is essentially the same as that of PIN diodes. Alpha and electron spectra of mass-separated ²³⁹Pu and ²⁴⁰Pu sources have been measured with a 300-μm thick PIPS detector and the electron to alpha ratios for the conversion lines of the 51.62- and 45.24-keV transitions have been determined. A procedure has been developed to determine the amount of ²³⁹Pu and ²⁴⁰Pu in a mixed source. The α-particle emission rate of the mixed source is measured, which is the sum of individual rates. From the electron spectrum of the mixed source, measured with the same setup as the alpha spectrum, the rates of ²³⁹Pu electron lines are determined. Using the electron rate of the ²³⁹Pu line and the electron to alpha ratio measured for the pure source, the α-particle emission rate of ²³⁹Pu is determined. The difference from the total α-particle emission rate gives the α-particle emission rate of ²⁴⁰Pu. In addition, electron intensities and conversion coefficients of the ²³⁹Pu and ²⁴⁰Pu transitions have been measured.
Time-resolved K-shell line spectra measurement of z-pinch plasmas
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Citation Excerpt :
In this paper, a cylindrical bent crystal spectrometer with Johann [19] or Johansson [20] geometry, fitted with the x-ray PIN diodes positioned along the Rowland circle, was built for measuring the K-shell line spectra of the imploding wire array z-pinch plasma. The silicon PIN photodiode has the advantage of flat response, insensitive to surface contamination, low voltage biasing requirements, sensitivity to low energy photons, excellent detector to detector response reproducibility, and ability to operate in poor vacuum experiments [21–26]. Combination of the focusing x-ray spectrometer with this high-sensitive detector should give a reasonable signal to noise ratio on the low-current pulse generator.
A Johann-type crystal spectrometer integrated with x-ray PIN diodes has been developed for measuring the time-resolved K-shell line spectra of the imploding Al wire array. In this spectrometer, the PIN diodes are mounted on the Rowland circle of the cylindrical bent crystal with an appointed position to collect the line emissions from z-pinch plasmas. The spectrometer with four typical channels, which are keyed to the Al ion hydrogen-like ( $H_{α}$ , 0.7171 nm and $H_{β}$ , 0.6052 nm) and helium-like ( ${He}_{α}$ , 0.7757 nm and ${He}_{β}$ , 0.6634 nm) resonance lines is designed and fabricated. Example data from the experiment on the Yang accelerator are shown and the time-dependent electron temperature is determined from the signal ratios of Al ion $H_{α}$ line to ${He}_{α}$ line using the collisional and radiative model.
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2007, Nuclear Data Sheets
Investigation of charge collection in a silicon PIN photodiode
2005, Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms
Citation Excerpt :
Application of planar technology for manufacturing of silicon semiconductor detectors [1] has resulted in significant improvement in reducing leakage current and increasing reliability, including radiation resistance. Photodiodes made by the same technology have also reached maturity [2] and although they are intended primarily for the optical region, they can be used to detect nuclear radiation (X- and gamma-rays, charged particles) as well [3,4]. They became rather popular since comparable performance can be obtained at a fraction of price of dedicated nuclear detectors.
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^☆: This work was supported by the US Department of Energy, Nuclear Physics Division, under contract no. W-31-109-ENG-38.

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Nuclear spectroscopy with Si PIN diode detectors at room temperature☆

Abstract

Nucl. Instr. and Meth.

Nucl. Instr. and Meth.

Nucl. Instr. and Meth.

Nucl. Instr. and Meth.

Nucl. Instr. and Meth.