Research on the Preparation and Performance of Cadmium Zinc Telluride Photon Counting Detectors
Research on the Preparation and Performance of Cadmium Zinc Telluride Photon Counting Detectors
Abstract: This paper mainly studies the preparation and performance of cadmium zinc telluride (CdZnTe, CZT) photon counting detectors. Firstly, the characteristics of CZT materials are introduced, including their relatively wide band gap, high atomic number density, and relatively high electron mobility. Then, the preparation methods of CZT photon counting detectors are introduced in detail, including the common metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) method and molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) method. Furthermore, the performance of CZT detectors is analyzed and evaluated, including energy spectrum resolution, counting rate capability, dark count rate, and time resolution. Finally, the application prospects of CZT detectors are prospected.
1. Introduction
As one of the most important semiconductor detection materials at present, CZT materials have broad application prospects. Their relatively wide band gap enables them to effectively absorb incident radiation in hard X-ray and γ-ray detection and have good energy resolution capabilities. At the same time, CZT materials have a high atomic number density and electron mobility, making them efficient photon counting detector materials.
2. Preparation of CZT Photon Counting Detectors
2.1 Preparation by MOCVD Method
In the MOCVD method, first, the vapors of organometallic compounds of Cd, Zn, and Te elements are deposited on the substrate, and then the organometallic compounds are decomposed by heat treatment to form CZT crystals. The CZT material prepared by this method has high purity, and the molar ratio of Cd and Zn can be controlled to adjust the band structure and band gap of the material.
2.2 Preparation by MBE Method
The MBE method is to deposit Cd, Zn, and Te element molecules on the surface of the substrate by thermal evaporation of molecular beams under ultra-high vacuum conditions to grow into CZT crystals. This preparation method can achieve the control of a single atomic layer and can prepare high-quality CZT materials.
3. Performance Analysis of CZT Detectors
3.1 Energy Spectrum Resolution
Energy spectrum resolution is the ability of a detector to distinguish two sub-rays with close energies. CZT materials have good energy resolution capabilities, and their energy spectrum resolution is usually between several hundred electron volts and one thousand electron volts.
3.2 Counting Rate Capability
The counting rate capability refers to the number of incident particles that the detector can handle. Due to the relatively high electron mobility and atomic number density, CZT materials have a high counting rate capability and can cope with high-flux ray incidence.
3.3 Dark Count Rate
The dark count rate refers to the counting rate of accidental events generated by the detector under the condition of no ray incidence. Due to its high atomic number density and electron mobility, CZT materials have a low dark count rate.
3.4 Time Resolution
Time resolution refers to the ability of a detector to accurately measure the time interval of incident rays. CZT materials have a short carrier lifetime and fast response time, so they have good time resolution.
4. Application Prospects of CZT Detectors
At present, CZT detectors have been widely used in many fields, including nuclear physics, medical imaging, security inspection, etc. With the continuous progress of technology and the continuous improvement of CZT material performance, their application prospects will be broader.
5. Conclusion
This paper mainly studies the preparation and performance of CZT photon counting detectors. The CZT materials prepared by methods such as MOCVD and MBE have high purity and energy spectrum resolution. CZT detectors have high counting rate capability, low dark count rate, and good time resolution. In the future, the application of CZT detectors in fields such as nuclear physics, medical imaging, and security inspection will be more extensive.
References
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[3] Z. He, Q. Zhang, X. Chen, L. Zhang, Y. Cui, Development of high performance CdZnTe for nuclear radiation detectors, IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci. 56 (2009) 741 - 750.
