Effect of surface preparation technique on the radiation detector performance of CdZnTe

Synthetic CdZnTe (CZT) semiconducting crystals are highly suitable for the room temperature-based detection of gamma radiation. The surface preparation of Au contacts on surfaces of CZT detectors is typically conducted after (1) polishing to remove artifacts from crystal sectioning and (2) chemical etching, which removes residual mechanical surface damage however etching results in a Te rich surface layer that is prone to oxidize. Our studies show that CZT surfaces that are only polished (as opposed to polished and etched) can be contacted with Au and will yield lower surface currents. Due to their decreased dark currents, these as-polished surfaces can be used in the fabrication of gamma detectors exhibiting a higher performance than polished and etched surfaces with relatively less peak tailing and greater energy resolution.