Performance of thin-window Silicon Drift Detectors

Abstract

Several sets of hexagonal Silicon Drift Detector (SDD) arrays were produced at BNL and by a commercial vendor, KETEK. Each array consists of 14 independent detectors (pixels) and two additional test pixels at two of the corners. The side of the detector upon which the X-ray radiation is incident (window side) has a thin junction covering the entire active area. The opposite side (device side) contains a drift-field electrode structure in the form of a hexagonal spiral and an electron collecting anode. There are 4 guard rings surrounding the 14-pixel array area on both sides of the detector. Within each array, 7 of the pixels have an aluminum field plate - interrupted spirals that stabilize the electric potential under the Si-SiO 2 interface, while the other 7 do not. The drift field in the silicon volume is controlled by three biases: one is applied to a rectifying contact, one to the detector entrance window, and the third to a contact on the outer portion of the spiral common to all pixels in the array. Some arrays have been newly measured in NSLS beam line U3C at BNL. The complete assemblies were installed in the vacuum and cooled to −27°C. During this run, spectra for energies ranging between 400 and 900 eV were collected in several pixels, some with field plates and others without. The detailed testing results of several arrays are reported here.