Photo-responsivity characterizations of CdTe films for direct-conversion X-ray detectors

Abstract

We have fabricated and investigated thin, polycrystalline, cadmium-telluride (CdTe) films in order to utilize them for optical switching readout layers in direct-conversion X-ray detectors. The polycrystalline CdTe films are fabricated on ITO glasses by using the physical vapor deposition (PVD) method at a slow deposition rate and a pressure of 10−6 torr. CdTe films with thicknesses of 5 and 20 μm are grown. The electrical and the optical characteristics of the CdTe films are investigated by measuring the dark-current and the photo-current as functions of the applied field under different wavelengths of light. Higher photo-currents are generated at the longer wavelengths of light for the same applied voltage. When a higher electrical field is applied to the 20 μm-thick CdTe film, a higher dark-current, a higher photo-current, a larger number of charges, and a higher quantum efficiency are generated.