A new generation of X-ray detectors based on silicon carbide

We present experimental results on X-ray detectors based on Silicon Carbide (SiC). We demonstrate that SiC allows operating the detectors in a wide temperature range (up to 100°C) with performance, at high temperature, not attainable with any other semiconductor detector presently available. We have realized several detectors on epitaxial 4H–SiC layer. The spectrometer shows ultra low noise due to the extremely low leakage current densities of SiC detectors: 15 pA/cm2 at 27°C and 525 pA/cm2 at 107°C. Noise levels of 366 eV FWHM at 27°C and 645 eV FWHM at 94°C, limited by the noise of the silicon front-end transistor, have been measured on 241Am spectra.