InGaAs x-ray photodiode for spectroscopy

Abstract

A prototype In _0.53 Ga _0.47 As p ^+ -i-n ^+ x-ray photodiode, fabricated from material grown by metalorganic vapour phase epitaxy, was investigated as a novel detector of x-rays. The detector was connected to a custom low-noise charge sensitive preamplifier and standard readout electronics to produce an x-ray spectrometer. The detector and preamplifier were operated at a temperature of 233 K (−40 °C). An energy resolution of 1.18 keV ± 0.06 keV Full Width at Half Maximum at 5.9 keV was achieved. This is the first time InGaAs (GaInAs) has been shown to be capable of spectroscopic photon counting x-ray detection.

Keywords

• InGaAs
• GaInAs
• x-ray detector
• Photodiode
• Spectroscopy