Depth sensing technique using time-to-peak of anode signal in CZT detectors

Abstract

This paper presents a depth sensing technique implemented on the CZT detectors, which uses the amplitude and the time-to-peak of the anode signal to reconstruct the depth of interaction and the initial deposited energy. The principle and procedure of the reconstruction are described in detail. The feasibility of this technique implemented on a Pixel CZT detector was investigated through simulations and a prototype was fabricated for an experimental test. The experimental results demonstrated the effectiveness of this technique. Depth indexes reconstructed by time-to-peak were in agreement with depth sensing by the C/A ratio, and the performance of the reconstructed spectrum improved obviously.Extensive investigation showed that it is feasible to extend this technique to Strengthened Electric Field Line Anode (SEFLA) detectors. Although the depth sensing had some limitation in practical application due to the non-uniform electric field, energy resolution was significantly improved from 3.2% (FWHM@662keV) to 1.7%. Efforts will be made to apply this technique on the portable spectrometric systems based on SEFLA detectors.