Long-Term Stable Surface Treatments on CdTe and CdZnTe Radiation Detectors

Abstract

The spectral resolution and charge collection efficiency (CCE) of cadmium telluride (CdTe) and cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) room-temperature x-ray and gamma-ray detectors are often limited by high surface leakage current due to conducting surface species created during detector fabrication. Surface treatments play a major role in reduction of this surface leakage current. The effect of various types of surface etching and passivation on the leakage current and thereby the spectral energy resolution, CCE, and internal electric field profile of CdTe/CZT detectors has been studied. The main aim of this work is preparation of long-term stable detectors with strongly reduced leakage current. The time stability of the current–voltage characteristic and spectral resolution was investigated during 21 days and 1 year, respectively, after performing surface treatments. Our results suggest that the optimal detector preparation method is chemomechanical polishing in bromine-ethylene glycol solution followed by chemical etching in bromine-methanol solution then surface passivation in potassium hydroxide or ammonium fluoride (NH4F/H2O2). Detectors prepared using this optimal treatment exhibited low leakage current, high spectral resolution, and long-term stability compared with those subjected to other surface preparation methods.