High-resolution detection of 100 keV electrons using avalanche photodiodes

With two electron beam sources, we have tested two new Hamamatsu [Hamamatsu Photonics K.K., Shizuoka, Japan 〈 http://www.hamamatsu.com/ 〉 ] avalanche photodiodes (APDs) of spl 3988 and spl 6098 to detect electron beams up to 100 keV. Though our previous results showed the effectiveness and the advantage of an APD to measure 2–40 keV electrons, its upper limit was not high enough to detect so-called medium-energy electrons. In addition to the limitation of its detectable range, the response at different energies was also not linear. These newly developed APDs, which have thicker depletion-layers, provide full coverage of this missing range along with a good linearity. The depletion-layer thickness was increased to 140 μ m for both APDs, the dead-layer of spl 3988 became 10 times thicker than that of spl 6098. The thin-surface dead-layer and thick depletion-layer of spl 6098 allows the detection of electrons from 3 keV up to 100 keV with a good linearity and with an excellent energy resolution of 4 keV at 100-keV electrons. The wide dynamic range from 3 keV to 100 keV of those APDs will increase their appeal in detecting electrons for space plasma research.