Investigation of the Charge Collection Efficiency of CdMnTe Radiation Detectors

This paper presents the growth, fabrication and characterization of indium-doped cadmium manganese telluride (CdMnTe) crystals grown by the vertical Bridgman technique. The 10 × 10 × 1.9 mm³ samples have been fabricated, and the charge collection properties of the CdMnTe detectors have been measured. Alpha-particle spectroscopy measurements have yielded an average charge collection efficiency approaching 100%. Ion beam induced charge (IBIC) measurements have been performed by raster scanning focused 5.5 MeV ⁴He beams onto the detectors. Spatially resolved charge collection efficiency maps have been produced for a range of detector bias voltages. Inhomogeneities in the charge transport of the CdMnTe crystals have been associated with chains of Te inclusions within the detector bulk, and the reduction in charge collection efficiency in their locality has been quantified. It has been shown that the role of Te inclusions in degrading charge collection is reduced with increasing values of bias voltage. IBIC measurements for a range of low biases have highlighted the evolution of the charge collection uniformity across the detectors.