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Semiconductor detector
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A '''semiconductor detector''' is a device that uses a semiconductor (usually [[silicon]] or [[germanium]]) to detect traversing charged particles or the absorption of photons. In the field of particle physics, these detectors are usually known as ''silicon detectors.'' When their sensitive structures are based on a single [[diode]], they are called '''semiconductor diode detectors'''. When they contain many diodes with different functions, the more general term semiconductor detector is used. Semiconductor detectors have found broad application during recent decades, in particular for [[gamma ray|gamma]] and [[X-ray]] [[spectrometry]] and as [[particle detector]]s. == Semiconductor radiation detector == In these detectors, [[radiation]] is measured by means of the number of [[charge carrier]]s set free in the detector, which is arranged between two [[electrode]]s. Ionizing radiation produces free [[electron]]s and [[Electron_hole|holes]]. The number of electron-hole pairs depends on the [[energy]] transmitted by the radiation to the semiconductor. As a result, a certain number of electrons are transferred from the [[valence band]] to the [[conduction band]], and an equivalent number of holes are created in the valence band. Under the influence of an [[electric field]], electrons as well as holes travel to the electrodes, where they give rise to a pulse that can be measured in an outer [[electrical network|circuit]]. The holes travel into the opposite direction and can also be measured. The energy required for production of electron-hole-pairs is very low compared to the energy required for production of paired ions in a gas detector. Consequently, in semiconductor detectors the [[Statistical_variability|statistical variation]] of the pulse height is smaller and the energy resolution is higher. As the electrons travel fast, the time resolution is also very good. Compared with [[gaseous ionization detectors]]s, the [[density]] of a semiconductor detector is very high, and charged particles of high energy can give off their energy in a semicoductor of relatively small dimensions. == Semiconductor particle detectors == Most silicon [[Elementary particle|particle]] detectors work, in principle, by [[Doping (semiconductor)|doping]] narrow (usually around 100 micrometres wide) strips of [[silicon]] to make them into [[diode|diodes]], which are then reverse biased. As charged particles pass through these strips, they cause small ionization currents which can be detected and measured. Arranging thousands of these detectors around a collision point in a [[particle accelerator]] can give an accurate picture of what paths particles take. Silicon detectors have a much higher resolution in tracking charged particles than older technologies such as [[cloud chamber|cloud chambers]] or [[wire chamber|wire chambers]]. The drawback is that silicon detectors are much more expensive than these older technologies and require sophisticated cooling to reduce leakage currents (noise source) as well as suffer degradation over time from [[radiation]]. [[Diamond]] detectors have many similarities with silicon detectors, but are expected to offer significant advantages, in particular a high radiation hardness and very low drift currents. At present they are much more expensive and more difficult to manufacture. [[Germanium]] detectors are mostly used for spectroscopy in [[nuclear physics]]. While silicon detectors cannot be thicker than a few millimiters, germanium can have a depleted, sensitive thickness of centimeters, and therefore can be used as a total absorption detector for gamma rays up to few MeV.
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