Further investigation of the operation of Cd1−xZnxTe pixel array detectors

In this work we study the spectral performance of Cd1−xZnxTe pixel array detectors. The specific effects and relative importance of various detector parameters on spectral response are determined. While bulk material uniformity is still the factor most impacting detector performance, pixel size relative to detector thickness is found to also have a large impact. The localization of the charge induction profile, or weighting potential, leads to a reduction in the importance of hole transport. Thus, pixel geometry is a key design parameter setting spectroscopic performance. Finally, the contact material choice has some effect on performance, in that reductions in leakage current obtained with blocking gold contacts can improve the energy resolution for low photon energies, although the effect is small for small-area pixels.