Detector Characteristics Research Articles

UV detector characteristics of ZnO thin film deposited on Corning glass substrates using low-cost fabrication method

UV detector characteristics of ZnO thin film deposited on Corning glass substrates using low-cost fabrication method

Surface Characterization of P-Type Point Contact Germanium Detectors

P-type point contact (PPC) germanium detectors are used in rare event and low-background searches, including neutrinoless double beta (0νββ) decay, low-energy nuclear recoils, and coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering. The detectors feature an excellent energy resolution, low detection thresholds down to the sub-keV range, and enhanced background rejection capabilities. However, due to their large passivated surface, separating the signal readout contact from the bias voltage electrode, PPC detectors are susceptible to surface effects such as charge build-up. A profound understanding of their response to surface events is essential. In this work, the response of a PPC detector to alpha and beta particles hitting the passivated surface was investigated in a multi-purpose scanning test stand. It is shown that the passivated surface can accumulate charges resulting in a radial-dependent degradation of the observed event energy. In addition, it is demonstrated that the pulse shapes of surface alpha events show characteristic features which can be used to discriminate against these events.

Case Study on the Fitting Method of Typical Objects

This study proposes different fitting methods for different types of targets in the 400–900 nm wavelength range, based on convex optimization algorithms, to achieve the effect of high-precision spectral reconstruction for small space-borne spectrometers. This article first expounds on the mathematical model in the imaging process of the small spectrometer and discretizes it into an AX=B matrix equation. Second, the design basis of the filter transmittance curve is explained. Furthermore, a convex optimization algorithm is used, based on 50 filters, and appropriate constraints are added to solve the target spectrum. First, in terms of spectrum fitting, six different ground object spectra are selected, and Gaussian fitting, polynomial fitting, and Fourier fitting are used to fit the original data and analyze the best fit of each target spectrum. Then the transmittance curve of the filter is equally divided, and the corresponding AX=B discrete equation set is obtained for the specific object target, and a random error of 1% is applied to the equation set to obtain the discrete spectral value. The fitting is performed for each case to determine the best fitting method with errors. Subsequently, the transmittance curve of the filter with the detector characteristics is equally divided, and the corresponding AX=B discrete equation set is obtained for the specific object target. A random error of 1% is applied to the equation set to obtain the error. After the discrete spectral values are obtained, the fitting is performed again, and the best fitting method is determined. In order to evaluate the fitting accuracy of the original spectral data and the reconstruction accuracy of the calculated discrete spectrum, the three evaluation indicators MSE, ARE, and RE are used for evaluation. To measure the stability and accuracy of the spectral reconstruction of the fitting method more accurately, it is necessary to perform 500 cycles of calculations to determine the corresponding MSE value and further analyze the influence of the fitting method on the reconstruction accuracy. The results show that different fitting methods should be adopted for different ground targets under the error conditions. The three indicators, MSE, ARE, and RE, have reached high accuracy and strong stability. The effect of high-precision reconstruction of the target spectrum is achieved. This article provides new ideas for related scholars engaged in hyperspectral reconstruction work and promotes the development of hyperspectral technology.

Thickness determination of material plates by gamma-ray transmission technique using calibration curves constructed from Monte Carlo simulation

This paper presents a new approach for determining the thickness of material plates by gamma-ray transmission technique using calibration curves obtained from simulated spectra through the Monte Carlo algorithm. The narrow transmitted gamma-ray beam from a collimated source of 137Cs (with the energy of 661.7 keV) for different thicknesses of the metal plates (aluminum, copper, and steel) was recorded by a NaI(Tl) detector. Besides, the Monte Carlo simulations of radiation transport in a model with the same geometry, source, and detector characteristics as in the real experiment were performed to obtain the transmission spectra. A good agreement between the experimental and simulated spectra was observed. The linear calibration curves of the value of ln(R) versus the thickness of material plates were constructed using Monte Carlo simulated data (R is the ratio of the area under a transmitted peak for measurement with sample relative to that for measurement without sample). The unknown thickness of a sample was determined by substituting the experimental value of ln(R) into the linear calibration curve corresponding to such sample. Besides, the range of measurable thickness with the desired accuracy was estimated for each material based on simulated data. The obtained results showed excellent quantitative values even without using any standard plate with known thickness for the calibration.

Study of waveform characteristics of scintillator detector excited by ultraviolet light-emitting diodes

Radioactive sources excite scintillators, causing them to emit fluorescence, and are thus widely used in studies of the performance of scintillators. Ultraviolet (UV) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) can also excite scintillators to produce fluorescence. In this paper, the waveform characteristics of a UV LED-excited scintillator detector are studied and compared with the characteristics obtained when using a radioactive source. Test results show that the trailing edge of the scintillation pulse excited by the UV LED has exponential decay characteristics that are similar to those obtained under 137Cs excitation. The light intensity of the UV LED shows a good linear relationship with the peak position of the pulse. Furthermore, a macroscopic model for the output waveform from the scintillator when excited by a UV LED is established and the model is modified based on the experimental results. Although the scintillator's response to the UV source cannot simulate its response to gamma-ray sources fully, we hope that this method can be used in preliminary testing of scintillation detectors or when the use of radiation sources is limited.

Broadband Characterization of a Compact Zero-Bias Schottky Diode Detector with a Continuous Wave THz System

Broadband Characterization of a Compact Zero-Bias Schottky Diode Detector with a Continuous Wave THz System

Characterization of a hybrid pixel counting detector using a silicon sensor and the IBEX readout ASIC for electron detection

In this paper we report on the performance of a Hybrid Pixel Detector — consisting on an IBEX ASIC bump-bonded to a 450 μm-thick Silicon sensor with a pixel size of 75 μm — used as a direct electron detector up to 300 keV. The count homogeneity was found to have a dispersion below 1%. Energy spectra were recorded for electron energies in the range 20–80 keV, showing a significant full-peak energy loss due to the entrance contact dead layer only for impinging electrons below 30 keV. MTF and DQE were measured at 100 keV and 200 keV in low-flux regime for several threshold energies. Zero-frequency DQE values are up to 0.85 and 0.9 for the two electron energies, respectively, while for increasing frequencies the DQE fall more rapidly for the 200 keV case as a consequence of the higher degradation in spatial resolution. Based on the analysis of the cluster distribution of single-events we were also able to estimate the DQE(0) at 300 keV, which is close to unity for low thresholds. The system response linearity was tested at 80 keV in both paralyzable and non-paralyzable counting mode, yielding a 10% count loss at 0.8 Mcts/s/pix and 1.7 Mcts/s/pix, respectively, and a 50% count loss at 7 Mcts/s/pix and 16 Mcts/s/pix, respectively. FLUKA-based Monte Carlo simulations were used to cross-validate the experimental results and to gain a better understanding of the underlying physical processes.

Characterization and operational stability of EJ276 plastic scintillator-based detector for neutron spectroscopy

A state-of-the-art EJ276 plastic scintillator-based detector for neutron spectroscopy has undergone detailed characterization both in a controlled laboratory and on-site at the SPIDER negative ion source facility in Padua. The device will be used for the spectroscopy of 2.5 MeV neutrons produced from Deuterium-Deuterium fusion reactions occurring inside the SPIDER beam dump. A plastic based scintillator with neutron/gamma discrimination has some key advantages over the commonly used organic liquid scintillators with regards economic cost and handling safety. The purpose of this characterization is to determine the operational functionality and reliability of this new breed of detector material. Several tests were performed to verify expected operation with regards to signal reproducibility, long-term stability, and pulse shape discrimination (PSD) capabilities. It was found that the detector system (EJ276 scintillator + photomultiplier tube) performed well in terms of reproducibility and PSD, however the long-term stability of the scintillator light output was seen to diminish considerably over time (>50% decrease) and must be consistently monitored in order to have an accurate conversion scale needed for energy spectroscopy.

Design and implementation of silicon single-photon avalanche photodiode modeling tool for QKD systems

Single-photon detection concept is the most crucial factor that determines the performance of quantum key distribution (QKD) systems. In this paper, a simulator with time domain visualizers and configurable parameters using continuous time simulation approach is presented for modeling and investigating the performance of single-photon detectors operating in Gieger mode at the wavelength of 830 nm. The widely used C30921S silicon avalanche photodiode was modeled in terms of avalanche pulse, the effect of experiment conditions such as excess voltage, temperature and average photon number on the photon detection efficiency, dark count rate and afterpulse probability. This work shows a general repeatable modeling process for significant performance evaluation. The most remarkable result emerged from the simulated data generated and detected by commercial devices is that the modeling process provides guidance for single-photon detectors design and characterization. The validation and testing results of the single-photon avalanche detectors (SPAD) simulator showed acceptable results with the theoretical and experimental results reported in related references and the device's data sheets.

Characteristics of X-ray and gamma radiation detectors 
 based on polycrystalline CdTe and CdZnTe films

Based on CdTe and CdZnTe detectors a number of promising devices were created, which found their application in metallurgy, in solving the problems of customs control and control of nuclear materials, as well as matrix detectors created for the manufacture of medical devices and devices for space research. Detectors, created on the basis of polycrystalline semiconductor CdTe and CdZnTe films with a columnar structure on a molybdenum substrate with a thickness d = 30150 μm, had a specific resistance p > 10^5 10^8 W-cm. The energy resolution of the CdTe and CdZnTe detectors at room temperature reached ~ 5 keV on the 59.6 keV 241Am line.

Characteristics of microSilicon diode detector for electron beam dosimetry.

A microSilicon™ (PTW type 60023), a new unshielded diode detector succeeding Diode E (model 60017, PTW), was characterized for electron beam dosimetry and compared with other detectors. Electron beams generated from a TrueBeam linear accelerator were measured using the microSilicon, Diode E, and microDiamond synthetic single-crystal diamond detector. Positional accuracy of microSilicon was measured by data collected in air and water. The percent depth dose (PDD), off-center ratio (OCR), dose-response linearity, dose rate dependence, and cone factors were evaluated. The PDDs were compared with data measured using a PPC40 plane-parallel ionization chamber. The maximum variations of depth of 50% and 90% of the maximum dose, and practical depth among all detectors and energies were 0.9mm. The maximum variations of the bremsstrahlung dose among all detectors and energies were within 0.3%. OCR showed good agreement within 1% for the flat and tail regions. The microSilicon detector showed a penumbra width similar to microDiamond, whereas Diode E showed the steepest penumbra shape. All detectors showed good dose-response linearity and stability against the dose rate; only Diode E demonstrated logarithmic dose rate dependency. The cone factor measured with microSilicon was within ±1% for all energies and cone sizes. We demonstrated that the characteristics of microSilicon is suitable for electron beam dosimetry. The microSilicon detector can be a good alternative for electron beam dosimetry in terms of providing an appropriate PDD curve without corrections, high spatial resolution for OCR measurements and cone factors.

Characterization of Diamond and Silicon Carbide Detectors With Fission Fragments

Experimental fission studies for reaction physics or nuclear spectroscopy can profit from fast, efficient, and radiation-resistant fission fragment (FF) detectors. When such experiments are performed in-beam in intense thermal neutron beams, additional constraints arise in terms of target-detector interface, beam-induced background, etc. Therefore, wide gap semi-conductor detectors were tested with the aim of developing innovative instrumentation for such applications. The detector characterization was performed with mass- and energy-separated fission fragment beams at the ILL (Institut Laue Langevin) LOHENGRIN spectrometer. Two single crystal diamonds, three polycrystalline and one diamond-on-iridium as well as a silicon carbide detector were characterized as solid state ionization chamber for FF detection. Timing measurements were performed with a 500-µm thick single crystal diamond detector read out by a broadband amplifier. A timing resolution of ∼10.2 ps RMS was obtained for FF with mass A = 98 at 90 MeV kinetic energy. Using a spectroscopic preamplifier developed at INFN-Milano, the energy resolution measured for the same FF was found to be slightly better for a ∼50-µm thin single crystal diamond detector (∼1.4% RMS) than for the 500-µm thick one (∼1.6% RMS), while a value of 3.4% RMS was obtained with the 400-µm silicon carbide detector. The Pulse Height Defect (PHD), which is significant in silicon detectors, was also investigated with the two single crystal diamond detectors. The comparison with results from α and triton measurements enabled us to conclude that PHD leads to ∼50% loss of the initial generated charge carriers for FF. In view of these results, a possible detector configuration and integration for in-beam experiments has been discussed.

Cooled SPAD array detector for low light-dose fluorescence laser scanning microscopy

The single-photon timing and sensitivity performance and the imaging ability of asynchronous-readout single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) array detectors have opened up enormous perspectives in fluorescence (lifetime) laser scanning microscopy (FLSM), such as super-resolution image scanning microscopy and high-information content fluorescence fluctuation spectroscopy. However, the strengths of these FLSM techniques depend on the many different characteristics of the detector, such as dark noise, photon-detection efficiency, after-pulsing probability, and optical cross talk, whose overall optimization is typically a trade-off between these characteristics. To mitigate this trade-off, we present, to our knowledge, a novel SPAD array detector with an active cooling system that substantially reduces the dark noise without significantly deteriorating any other detector characteristics. In particular, we show that lowering the temperature of the sensor to −15°C significantly improves the signal/noise ratio due to a 10-fold decrease in the dark count rate compared with room temperature. As a result, for imaging, the laser power can be decreased by more than a factor of three, which is particularly beneficial for live-cell super-resolution imaging, as demonstrated in fixed and living cells expressing green-fluorescent-protein-tagged proteins. For fluorescence fluctuation spectroscopy, together with the benefit of the reduced laser power, we show that cooling the detector is necessary to remove artifacts in the correlation function, such as spurious negative correlations observed in the hot elements of the detector, i.e., elements for which dark noise is substantially higher than the median value. Overall, this detector represents a further step toward the integration of SPAD array detectors in any FLSM system.

Characterization of predictable quantum efficient detector in terms of optical non-linearity in the visible to near-infrared range

The characteristics of a predictable quantum efficient detector (PQED) in terms of optical non-linearity in the visible to near-infrared range were investigated under zero-bias and reverse-bias voltage conditions. In the zero-bias condition, linear behavior was observed in the wavelength from 405 nm to 1060 nm in the photocurrent range of 1 nA to 10 μA, and saturation occurred for photocurrents over 10 μA for all wavelengths. In the reverse-bias voltage of 10 V, the linear behavior was observed in the photocurrent range of 64 nA to 1 mA except for the wavelength of 1060 nm, and the saturation photocurrent increased up to 1 mA. The supralinearity value at 1060 nm increased sharply from the photocurrent of 100 μA, and its maximum value reached up to 0.34% at the photocurrent of 1 mA because of the back surface recombination and the longer absorption length. The spectral linearity results of the PQED help us to understand the charge-carrier loss mechanism in the PQED, and would lead to more accurate optical measurement with it.

Discovering features in gravitational-wave data through detector characterization, citizen science and machine learning

The observation of gravitational waves is hindered by the presence of transient noise (glitches). We study data from the third observing run of the Advanced LIGO detectors, and identify new glitch classes: fast scattering/crown and low-frequency blips. Using training sets assembled by monitoring of the state of the detector, and by citizen-science volunteers, we update the Gravity Spy machine-learning algorithm for glitch classification. We find that fast scattering/crown, linked to ground motion at the detector sites, is especially prevalent, and identify two subclasses linked to different types of ground motion. Reclassification of data based on the updated model finds that ∼27% of all transient noise at LIGO Livingston belongs to the fast scattering class, while ∼8% belongs to the low-frequency blip class, making them the most frequent and fourth most frequent sources of transient noise at that site. Our results demonstrate both how glitch classification can reveal potential improvements to gravitational-wave detectors, and how, given an appropriate framework, citizen-science volunteers may make discoveries in large data sets.

On-Chip Ge Photodetector Efficiency Enhancement by Local Laser-Induced Crystallization.

Metal-semiconductor-metal plasmonic nanostructures enable both on-chip efficient manipulation and ultrafast photodetection of strongly confined modes by enhancing local electrostatic and optical fields. The latter is achieved by making use of nanostructured thin-film germanium (Ge) plasmonic-waveguide photodetectors. While their sizes and locations can be accurately controlled during the nanofabrication, the detector efficiencies are significantly reduced due to deposited Ge amorphous nature. We demonstrate that the efficiency of waveguide-integrated Ge plasmonic photodetectors can be increased significantly (more than 2 orders of magnitude) by spatially controlled laser-induced Ge crystallization. We investigate both free-space and waveguide-integrated Ge photodetectors subjected to 800 nm laser treatment, monitoring the degree of crystallization with Raman spectroscopy, and demonstrate the efficiency enhancement by detecting the telecom radiation. The demonstrated local postprocessing technique can be utilized in various nanophotonic devices for efficient and ultrafast on-chip radiation monitoring and detection, offering significantly improved detector characteristics without jeopardizing the performance of other components.

Characterization of a new generation of silicon detector: The SIRIUS side “Strippy-Pad” detector

SIRIUS (Spectroscopy & Identification of Rare Isotopes Using S3) is a detection system designed for the focal plane of S3 (the Super Separator Spectrometer), which is part of the SPIRAL2 (Système de Production d’Ions RAdioactifs en Ligne de 2e génération) facility at GANIL (France). This study presents the characterization of the Side silicon detector of SIRIUS. This new “Strippy-pad” detector design benefits from an ultra-high resistivity and the windowless technique from Micron Semiconductor Ltd. These detectors were tested at the IPHC Strasbourg on a dedicated test bench with custom fast preamplifiers coupled to digital electronics cards. Combining all these elements, we obtained resolutions as good as 13.6 keV for certain pixels of this detector for 8.8 MeV alpha particles, with an average resolution measured at 14.7 keV over the whole detector.

Study on Smoke Detector Characteristics Using Fire Simulations

To reduce the damage caused by fire detector malfunctions, we investigated the standards and literature pertaining to fire detectors in Korea. The domestic standards cite UL's technical specifications, which provide only the standards and types of combustible materials; however, additional research is needed because no facilities related to the experiments are investigated and no fire experiments have actually been conducted. In this study, we refer to UL 268, which is similar to the domestic standards, as well as detailed experimental conditions and methods to improve smoke detector performances; we also use wood as the combustion material from among the fire sources specified in UL 268. Experiments were conducted to measure the sensitization rates using an optical density meter and repeated to match the wood smoke profile standard provided in UL 268. Furthermore, we compared the smoke concentrations detected by the smoke detectors in the fire experiments with those from fire simulations using FDS software to confirm the detector characteristics. Through these comparisons, we show that this research could be used as preliminary data for performance testing of detectors using UL 268.

Design and characterization of a phonon-mediated cryogenic particle detector with an eV-scale threshold and 100 keV-scale dynamic range

We present the design and characterization of a cryogenic phonon-sensitive 1-gram Si detector exploiting the Neganov-Trofimov-Luke effect to detect single-charge excitations. This device achieved 2.65(2)~eV phonon energy resolution when operated without a voltage bias across the crystal and a corresponding charge resolution of 0.03 electron-hole pairs at 100~V bias. With a continuous-readout data acquisition system and an offline optimum-filter trigger, we obtain a 9.2~eV threshold with a trigger rate of the order of 20~Hz. The detector's energy scale is calibrated up to 120~keV using an energy estimator based on the pulse area. The high performance of this device allows its application to different fields where excellent energy resolution, low threshold, and large dynamic range are required, including dark matter searches, precision measurements of coherent neutrino-nucleus scattering, and ionization yield measurements.

Application of High-Speed Quantum Cascade Detectors for Mid-Infrared, Broadband, High-Resolution Spectroscopy.

Broadband, high-resolution, heterodyne, mid-infrared absorption spectroscopy was performed with a high-speed quantum cascade (QC) detector. By strictly reducing the device capacitance and inductance via air-bridge wiring and a small mesa structure, a 3-dB frequency response over 20 GHz was obtained for the QC detector, which had a 4.6-μm peak wavelength response. In addition to the high-speed, it exhibited low noise characteristics limited only by Johnson–Nyquist noise, bias-free operation without cooling, and photoresponse linearity over a wide dynamic range. In the detector characterization, the noise-equivalent power was 7.7 × 10−11 W/Hz1/2 at 4.6 μm, and it had good photoresponse linearity up to 250 mW, with respect to the input light power. Broadband and high-accuracy molecular spectroscopy based on heterodyne detection was demonstrated by means of two distributed-feedback 4.5-μm QC lasers. Specifically, several nitrous oxide absorption lines were acquired over a wavelength range of 0.8 cm−1 with the wide-band QC detector.