Developments in semiconductor detector technology and new applications — symposium summary

Most traditional silicon-based detectors have advanced close to their intrinsic limits and optimization of the front-end electronics has become most crucial in improving performance for specific applications. CdZnTe and CdTe, the most promising in the hard X-ray band, are now finding real commercial applications. Si drift-type detectors are among the few silicon-based detectors whose merits have not been fully exploited. When they are used as photodiodes and combined with new high-Z, high light-yield scintillators (eg. GSO), we can expect a break-through in MeV gamma-ray detection.