Use of semiconductor detectors with synchrotron radiation

Abstract

Silicon and germanium semiconductor detectors are widely used as photon and charged-particle spectrometers. Semiconductor detectors combine wide energy bandwidth with good energy resolution to make useful spectrometers for use with the high-intensity X-ray sources available at synchrotron facilities. High-quality silicon and germanium single-crystal starting material is now available for the fabrication of large-volume detector. Techniques have also been developed to reliably make detectors with passivated surfaces, thin windows and complex geometries. New low-noise preamplifiers and pulse-shaping networks allow higher counting rates and improved pulse throughput. For applications where accurate flux measurements of intense photon beams are required, a semiconductor detector with a current-measuring voltage-to-frequency converter provides a simple system which has excellent linearity and stability. Examples are given where semiconductor detectors have been used in experiments at synchrotron facilities.