Cadmium zinc telluride spectral modeling

Cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) detectors are the highest resolution room temperature gamma-ray detectors available for isotopic analysis. As with germanium detectors, accurate isotopic analysis using spectra requires peak deconvolution. The CZT peak shapes are asymmetric, with a long low energy tail. The asymmetry is a result of the physics of the electron/hole transport in the semiconductor. An accurate model of the physics of the electron/hole transport through an electric field will allow the parameterization of the peak shapes as a function of energy. In turn this leads to the ability to perform accurate spectral deconvolution and therefore accurate isotopic analysis. The model and the peak-shape parameterization as a function of energy will be presented.