On the possibility of eliminating the energy threshold for electron detection in semiconductor detectors

Abstract

A method of eliminating the energy threshold for electron detection in semiconductor devices is described. The class of devices used for the detection and measurement of electron emission is sufficiently large, including electrostatic analyzers, gas-filled devices, microchannel plates, etc. An alternative to these types of devices for electron detection is offered by semiconductor radiation detectors based on the p-n junctions, which are widely used in the spectrometry of nuclear particles including medium-and high-energy electrons (102 keV and above). These detectors are obviously advantageous in comparison to the devices of other types, but there are several factors hindering the use of semiconductor detectors for the detection and analysis of low-energy electrons (in the kiloelectronvolt range). We propose an approach that allows the energy threshold for electron detection in semiconductor detectors to be eliminated by means of preliminary acceleration of the detected particles in an electrostatic field created between the emitter and the detector. This approach removes the basic factor limiting the use of semiconductor detectors in a number of diagnostic methods based on the analysis of electron emission, such as the extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS), surface EXAFS, and X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) techniques.