Silicon drift detector with reduced lateral diffusion:: experimental results

In a standard multi-anode silicon drift detector electron cloud broadening during the drifting towards the anode pixels deteriorates the energy and position resolution. This makes the detector less applicable for detection of low-energy X-rays. The signal charge sharing between several anodes can be eliminated by introducing sawtooth-shaped p+ field strips. The sawtooth structure results in small electric fields directed parallel to the sensor surface and perpendicular to the drift direction which produce gutters. The drifting electrons are confined in these gutters of one saw tooth period wide. For a detector with a sawtooth period of 500 μm, we have measured the maximum number of fully confined electrons as a function of the potential gutter depth induced by different sawtooth angles.