X-Ray Topography to Characterize Surface Damage on CdZnTe Crystals

Published

January 7, 2008

Author(s)

David R. Black, Joseph C. Woicik, Martine Duff, Douglas Hunter, Arnold Burger, Michael Groza

Abstract

Synthetic CdZnTe or CZT crystals can be used for room temperature detection of ?-radiation. Structural/morphological heterogeneities within CZT, such as twinning, secondary phases (often referred to as inclusions or precipitates), and polycrystallinity can affect detector performance. As part of a broader study using synchrotron radiation techniques to correlate detector performance to microstructure, x-ray topography (XRT) has been used to characterize CZT crystals. We have found that CZT crystals almost always have a variety of residual surface damage. Specific structures are identifiable as resulting from fabrication processes and from handling and shipping of sample crystals. Etching was found to remove this damage; however, the detector performance of the etched surfaces was inferior to the as-polished surface due to higher surface currents which result in more peak tailing and less energy resolution.

Proceedings Title

Proceedings of the MRS Conference | Fall | 2007 |

Conference Dates

November 26-30, 2007

Conference Title

MRS Conference

Pub Type

Conferences

Keywords

CdZnTe, detectors, surface damage, x-ray topography

Citation

Black, D. , Woicik, J. , Duff, M. , Hunter, D. , Burger, A. and Groza, M. (2008), X-Ray Topography to Characterize Surface Damage on CdZnTe Crystals, Proceedings of the MRS Conference | Fall | 2007 | (Accessed October 8, 2025)